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DR.  L.  W.  KNIGHT. 


The   Breeding  and  Rearing 
Jacks,    Jennets    and    Mules. 


BY 

L.  W.  KNIGHT,  M.D. 


NASHViiiLE,  Tenn.: 

The  Cumberland  Press, 

1902. 


Copyright  in  name  of  J.  M.  Knight,  Murfreesboro,  Tenn., 
1902. 


PREFACE. 


Realizing  the  constantly  growing  demand  for  mules 
in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  other  countries,  I  have 
been  induced  to  write  a  book  in  my  old  and  declining 
years  on  the  subject  of  breeding  and  rearing  jacks 
and  jennets  as  well  as  mules.  I  know  of  no  literature 
on  the  subject  of  breeding  jacks  and  jennets,  and 
very  little  on  the  mule,  which  I  regard  as  the  best 
animal  for  the  Southern  and  tropical  climates.  I  have 
written  this  book  without  notes,  and  entirely  from 
memory,  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  stock  farmers, 
who  are,  or  will  be  hereafter  engaged  in  this  line  of; 
business.  I  am  aware  there  are  many  imperfections; 
in  the  book,  which  I  trust  a  generous  public  willj 
excuse  under  the  circumstances.  The  Author, 


St3fcl 

y  S0497 


1 


^^^C^J 


Breeding  and  Rearing  of  Jacks, 
Jennets  and  Mutes* 


SECTION  FIRST. 

God  in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  has  given 
unto  us  three  great  kingdoms,  viz. :  the  Animal,  Vege- 
table and  Mineral.  He  has  given  us  dominion  over 
them  and  if  we  expect  to  make  them  profitable  we 
have  to  study  them  and  cultivate  them  to  make  them 
valuable  so  that  we  may  get  our  revenue  from  them. 
Having  had  long  experience  in  the  developing  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  especially  the  jack  and  jennet  stock 
and  valuable  mule,  I  thought  perhaps  I  could  make 
some  suggestions  and  give  my  experience  for  over 
three-fourths  of  a  century  in  handling  this  stock. 

Having  been  favorably  impressed,  especially  since 
the  termination  of  the  Spanish-American  war,  with 
the  great  importance  of  opening  up  a  trade  with  the 
many  tropical  islands,  viz. :  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Philip- 
pine and  Caroline  and  Hawaii  Islands,  the  question 
presents  itself  to  my  mind,  How  are  those  fertile  coun- 
tries to  be  supplied  with  suitable  stock  to  cultivate 
them?  They  are  coming  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  May  we  not  in- 
clude Africa,  which  in  a  few  years  may  be  open  as  a 
market  for  our  mules?  Where  can  they  get  their 
supply  from?  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Texas, 
and,  perhaps,  a  few  other  states.  Now,  to  supply  this 
great  demand  we  have  to  make  the  preliminary  ar- 


6  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OP 

rangements,  hence  we  will  have  to  increase  our  jack 
and  jennet  stock.  We  cannot  have  mules  without 
jacks,  neither  can  we  have  jacks  without  jennets.  So, 
they  are  the  basis  or  foundation  for  mules.  The 
United  States  has  scarcely  enough  mules  to  supply  her 
own  demands.  The  English  government  has  within 
recent  date,  shipped  from  New  Orleans  and  other 
places  thousands  of  mules  to  Africa  for  army  pur- 
poses, and  is  still  shipping  them. 

The  demand  is  growing  every  year  in  the  United 
States  for  mules,  as  the  railroads  are  being  developed 
in  all  parts  of  our  country,  opening  the  great  forests 
and  the  lumber  trade  as  well  as  the  various  minerals, 
as  gold,  silver,  iron,  lead,  coal  and  phosphate;  and 
oil  is  being  found  in  various  parts  of  our  country. 
As  the  great  internal  resources  are  developed  so  will 
the  demand  for  stock  be  increased.  It  may  be  stated 
as  a  fixed  fact  that  as  long  as  sugar,  cotton  and  rice 
will  grow  in  the  South,  there  will  be  a  demand  for 
mules.  No  animal  can  supersede  the  mule  for  the 
tropical  climate. 

SECTION  SECOND. 

Having  been  appointed  by  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  "Jack  Stock  Stud  Book  of  America,"  I  have 
given  a  brief  history  of  the  early  breeders  of  jacks 
and  jennets  in  the  United  States  as  far  as  could  be 
ascertained,  and  have  also  given  a  history  of  all  the 
late  importations  as  far  as  could  be  learned,  from  one 
of  the  largest  importers,  who  has  made  eight  trips  to 
Europe  and  has  had  more  experience  than  any  im- 
porter of  jacks  and  jennets  in  America.  I  allude  to 
Mr.  Wm.  H.  Goodpasture,  who  was  also  Secretary 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MULES  7 

of  the  ''American  Jack  Stock  Stud  Book  Associa- 
tion." He  and  his  lamented  father,  Judge  Good- 
pasture, together  made  more  and  larger  importations 
than  any  other  parties  with  whom  I  am  acquainted. 
Their  eight  importations  have  been  worth  millions 
of  dollars  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Good- 
pasture has  written  a  very  accurate  description  of 
the  different  breeds  of  jacks  that  are  used  in  Spain, 
Italy  and  France,  and  the  different  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  particularly  Malta  and  Majorca. 
His  description  of  each  species  is  so  full  and  accurate, 
that  it  would  be  superfluous  for  me  to  repeat,  or  try 
to  improve  on  them.  I  have  had  through  the  courtesy 
of  both  the  original  secretary,  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Good- 
pasture, and  the  present  secretary,  Mr.  J.  L.  Jones, 
Jr.,  of  Columbia,  Tenn.,  the  privilege  of  using  such 
articles  in  the  "American  Jack  Stock  Stud  Book"  as 
would  be  of  special  interest  in  furthering  the  cause 
and  development  of  the  jack  breeders  of  the  United 
States.  We  find  but  Httle  literature  on  the  subject  of 
breeding  and  rearing  jacks  and  jennets  in  our  country. 
Hence,  we  think  some  one  who  has  had  varied  experi- 
ence in  breeding  and  rearing  this  stock  in  the  United 
States  should  give  additional  information. 

I  was  born  in  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  in 
1816,  and  when  about  four  years  of  age  I  remember 
that  my  father,  the  late  Captain  James  Knight,  owned  a 
Diomeed  stallion  and  a  jack.  He  placed  me  on  the 
jack's  back  and  led  him  into  a  wheat  field  to  graze 
him.  This  was  about  the  year  1820.  Early  in  the 
twenties  my  father  moved  to  Middle  Tennessee  and 
settled  in  the  Southern  part  of  Rutherford  County, 
where  I  was  reared. 


8  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

He  was  born  in  Sussex  County,  Virginia,  about 
the  year  1793.  My  grandfather,  Captain  Doak,  was 
an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  When  the  war 
ended  the  government  of  the  United  States  did  not 
have  money  to  pay  the  officers  for  their  services  and 
many  were  paid  in  scrip.  My  grandfather  and  a  cousin 
of  his,  named  Doak  Hanna,  brought  their  scrips  to 
Rutherford  County,  in  Middle  Tennessee,  and  each 
one  of  them  entered  a  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the 
beautiful  valley  lying  between  Marshall's  and  Lee's 
knobs.  The  Murfreesboro  and  Shelbyville  pike  runs 
through  this  valley  eight  miles  south  of  Murfreesboro. 
My  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  James  Doak,  and 
inherited  a  part  of  the  one  thousand  acre  tract  of  land. 

I  remember  the  first  sucking  mule  I  ever  saw  was 
foaled  on  my  father's  farm  and  he  sold  it  at  weaning 
and  it  brought  a  better  price  than  horse  colts  did  at 
the  same  age.  This  made  a  lasting  impression  on  my 
mind,  and  I  have  often  observed  since  that  those  who 
would  buy  young  mules  at  weaning  or  at  an  early 
age  and  grow  them  properly  and  have  a  good  lot  to 
sell  every  year  were  generally  prosperous  stock  farm- 
ers and  would,  from  time  to  time,  be  able  to  buy  their 
neighbor's  land  and  perhaps  sow  it  down  in  grass 
and  make  the  fences  mule  proof;  and  in  the  course  of 
a  short  time  the  growth  of  their  mules  and  enhance- 
ment in  value  would  make  the  owner  a  handsome 
capital. 

Some  time  in  the  thirties  I  remember  my  father 
visited  General  Andrew  Jackson  (Old  Hickory)  who 
was  noted  for  his  love  of  fine  horses  and  had  won  a 
wagon  load  of  negroes  from  ex-Governor  Cannon  at 
Clover  Bottom  race  track.     The  General,  in  speaking 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND   MUI.ES  9 

to  my  father  in  regard  to  raising  mules,  said  to  him, 
the  finer  the  mare  the  finer  the  mule.  The  same  will 
also  apply  to  the  jack. 

Some  time  in  the  thirties  my  father  went  to  Bruns- 
wick County,  Virginia,  and  purchased  a  very  fine  black 
jack  with  white  nose  and  belly.  He  was  said  to  have 
been  the  third  descendant  of  the  Royal  Gift  to  Gen. 
George  Washington  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  I 
have  made  reference  to  the  Royal  Gift  in  my  essay  on 
''Reminiscences,"  written  in  the  American  Jack  Stock 
Stud  Book,  giving  a  history  of  the  early  breeders  of 
jacks  and  jennets  as  well  as  all  of  the  importations 
made  in  the  United  States  except  the  last,  which  was 
made  by  my  son,  James  M.  Knight  (who  lives  at 
Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  and  made  the  last  importation 
in  1893).  I  have  requested  him  and  my  son,  William 
E.  Knight,  who  resides  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  who 
has  made  three  trips  to  Europe  to  purchase  jacks  and 
jennets,  to  write  a  history  of  their  travels  and  pur- 
chases for  this  book.  They  are  both  engaged  in 
handling  that  stock  at  their  respective  homes,  Mur- 
freesboro and  Nashville.  Their  sale  stables  are  easy 
of  access  at  their  places  of  abode.  They  both  made 
a  trip  to  Europe  with  Mr.  Roth,  who  was  a  native 
of  Hungary,  and  who  could  speak  a  number  of  lan- 
guages. When  he  was  with  either  of  them  no  inter- 
preter was  needed.  I  heard  J.  M.  Knight  say  he 
never  knew  Mr.  Roth  to  meet  a  man  on  land  or  sea 
with  whom  he  could  not  converse.  I  think  he  told 
me  he  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  about  thirty- 
five  times  and  had  traveled  over  various  parts  of 
Europe.  It  has  been  the  custom  of  most  of  the  Ameri- 
cans that  have  gone  to  Spain,  France  or  Italy  to  pur- 


lO  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

chase  jacks  and  jennets  to  get  an  interpreter  who 
could  speak  Spanish,  French  or  Italian,  and  they  also 
had  to  have  a  man  that  was  acquainted  with  the  coun- 
try where  the  stock  could  be  found ;  besides,  it  was 
necessary  to  procure  a  vehicle  and  team  to  hunt  up 
this  stock.  Hence,  you  see  what  an  amount  of  money 
it  requires  for  a  stock  dealer  to  visit  those  countries 
and  have  so  much  expense  attached  to  his  finding  and 
purchasing  stock,  paying  hotel  bills  and  traveling. 
After  the  stock  has  been  found  and  purchased,  per- 
haps it  is  scattered  over  a  great  extent  of  territory, 
and  has  to  be  concentrated  and  gotten  to  a  shipping 
point.  And  even  then,  the  interpreter  must  be  kept 
until  the  stock  is  put  on  board  of  ship.  Now,  after 
the  stock  is  put  on  board  of  ship,  they  require  vigilant 
attention.  Sometimes  when  placed  in  the  hull,  where 
they  cannot  get  sufficient  pure  air,  they  are  liable  to 
suffer  and  die  for  the  want  of  it ;  or  if  they  are  placed 
on  upper  deck,  and  the  sea  is  rough  and  tempestuous, 
as  is  the  case  in  a  severe  storm,  and  the  ship  nearly 
covered  with  the  raging  waves,  the  stock,  in  that  case, 
is  in  great  danger  of  being  washed  overboard;  but 
when  the  sea  is  calm,  the  deck  passage  is  more  favor- 
able. 

About  the  year  of  1853  or  1854  I  owned  a  very 
superior  jack  called  Monarch.  He  was  a  gray,  about 
fifteen  hands  high,  horse  measure ;  was  sired  by  my 
jennet  jack  Maringo  Mammoth.  His  dam  was  by 
Hon.  Henry  Clay's  imported  Don  Callous,  of  Ken- 
tucky. He  proved  to  be  a  superior  breeder  for  both 
mares  and  jennets.  I  was  able  to  stand  him  at  $10 
for  mares  and  $20  for  jennets.  He  was  considered 
then  the  best  and  most  valuable  jack  in  Rutherford 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND   MUI.ES  11 

County,  Tennessee.  I  was  doing-  a  large  business  with 
"him  when  the  Civil  War  commenced  in  1861,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  business  with  him  until  the  fall  of  1862, 
when  the  Federal  and  Confederate  armies  were  fight- 
ing at  Richmond  and  Perryville,  Ky.  I  had  a  public 
stock  sale  and  sold  some  jacks,  horses,  mule  colts,  hogs 
and  other  stock,  believing  that  either  army  was  liable 
to  take  my  stock  if  they  needed  them.  I  lived  in  the 
southern  part  of  Rutherford  County,  Middle  Ten- 
nessee, where  both  armies  concentrated  at  Murfrees- 
boro  and  where  was  fought  one  of  the  heavy  battles 
of  the  war  (Stone's  River  or  the  battle  of  Murfrees- 
boro).  This  jack.  Monarch,  was  sold  at  my  sale 
at  $900.  I  was  offered  by  Esq.  Lane,  of  Walker 
County,  Georgia,  $1,000  in  gold  for  this  jack  a  few 
■days  before  he  was  two  years  old.  I  had  bought  a 
farm  and  had  commenced  preparing  for  stock  farming ; 
was  satisfied  that  I  could  make  a  good  jack  pay  me 
better  to  keep  him  and  buy  up  his  mule  colts  at  wean- 
ing or  yearlings.  I  bought  good  bone  fillies  and  bred 
them  to  my  jack.  When  they  got  with  foal  they  would 
grow  and  spread  and  enhance  in  value  when  I  could 
sell  them  for  good  profits  or  swap  them  for  good 
young  mules  and  sell  the  mules.  So  you  perceive  I 
was  making  the  jack's  services  pay  me  as  well  as  en- 
hancing the  value  of  my  young  brood  mares  by  getting 
them  with  foal,  and  by  buying  the  young  mules  he 
would  produce  in  the  neighborhood.  All  of  which 
were  fruitful  sources  of  revenue.  Besides  I  was  im- 
proving my  soil  and  enhancing  the  value  of  my  farm. 
I  have  long  since  learned  that  it  is  the  growth  and 
enhancement  of  a  man's  property  that  makes  him  his 
capital.     How  rarely  we  see  a  man  who  works  for 


12  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

Standing  wages  and  doing  hard,  muscular  labor  that 
ever  makes  more  than  a  scant  living.  But  for  a  man 
to  prosper,  he  must  generally  have  something  growing,, 
something  enhancing  in  value,  or  increasing  in  num- 
bers, when  he  is  asleep  or  resting.  His  muscle  alone 
will  not  do  to  depend  on.  It  will  fail  him  in  a  few 
years.  If  he  does  not  prepare  something  for  his  old 
and  declining  years  he  is  apt  to  be  brought  to  want 
or  thrown  on  the  cold  charities  of  the  world. 

I  do  not  know  of  a  better  plan  for  a  young  man. 
who  expects  to  make  stock  farming  his  occupation 
than  to  get  him  a  farm  with  good  running  water  that 
lasts  the  year  round.  Then  put  his  land  in  such 
grasses  that  suit  his  soil.  He  should  study  his  soil 
and  be  sure  that  his  grasses  are  well  adapted  to  the 
land  he  is  using  it  on.  For  instance :  Blue  grass  and 
clover  require  a  great  deal  of  lime  in  the  soil  for  them 
to  flourish.  They  will  not  do  well  in  sandy  land,  but 
orchard  grass  and  herd's  grass  will  grow  on  sandy 
soil.  Herd's  grass  does  very  well  on  low  or  damp  soil. 
A  man  to  stock  farm  properly  should  be  a  good  judge 
of  land  as  well  as  a  good  judge  of  stock.  If  he  is  not, 
he  should  advise  with  some  one  who  has  had  experi- 
ence on  the  subject.  Most  men  of  experience  will 
take  pleasure  in  advising  with  a  young  man  wanting 
information.  The  soil  is  a  compound  like  a  man's 
blood,  has  a  variety  of  ingredients  and  can  be  changed 
or  modified  as  circumstances  may  require,  and  it  be- 
hooves the  farmer  to  study  the  nature  both  of  his 
stock  and  soil.  It  should  be  remembered  that  a  stock 
farmer  has  an  opportunity  of  improving  his  lands 
while  he  is  growing  his  stock;  what  they  eat  is  put 
back  on  the  soil.     So,  it  seems  that  God  intended  that 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND   MULES  I3 

the  animal  kingdom  and  the  vegetable  kingdom  should 
go  together. 

SECTION  THIRD. 

Some  years  before  the  Civil  War  I  visited  the  blue 
grass  regions  of  Kentucky  and  found  the  farmers  had 
nearly  all  of  their  lands  down  in  grass.  They  kept, 
perhaps,  two  fields — one  for  corn  and  another  for 
wheat — and  a  garden;  the  balance  all  in  blue  grass. 
I  thought  they,  as  a  people,  had  more  time  for  social 
enjoyment  than  any  farmers  I  had  ever  seen.  When 
we  would  call  at  a  man's  house  to  look  at  stock,  after 
showing  his  own  he  would  propose  taking  us  to  see 
his  neighbors'.  We  found  the  Kentuckians  very  hos- 
pitable and  generous.  They  did  not  appear  to  be  en- 
vious or  jealous  of  each  other  like  some  people  en- 
gaged in  the  same  business.  If  they  had  animals  that 
had  blemishes  that  were  not  perceptible  they  would 
point  them  out  to  you.  A  stock  breeder  cannot  afford 
to  sell  blemished  stock  without  making  it  known ;  he 
will  be  more  damaged  by  it  than  the  purchaser. 

Our  lands  during  the  days  of  slavery  had  been  cul- 
tivated in  cotton,  until  the  soil  was  very  much  ex- 
hausted, and  was  needing  a  change  to  small  grain 
and  grass,  with  more  and  better  stock,  in  order  to  re- 
suscitate  them   and   make   them   more   remunerative. 

During  one  of  my  visits  to  Kentucky  with  my 
brother,  the  late  Gen.  J.  M.  Knight,  for  the  purpose 
of  attending  the  fairs  and  looking  at  the  different  kinds 
of  stock,  with  a  view  of  making  purchases  for  the 
benefit  of  our  own  section  of  country,  Middle  Ten- 
nessee (Murfreesboro  was  our  home  at  that  time), 
after  visiting  the  best  blue  grass  regions  of  Ken- 
tucky,  and   seeing  the  most  improved  stock  of  that 


14  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

state,  we  were  more  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  changing  our  mode  of  farming  in  our  own  state, 
especially  in  Middle  Tennessee.  So  after  consulting 
quite  a  number  of  the  most  enterprising  farmers,  we 
agreed  that  the  best  plan  to  bring  about  a  change  in 
our  mode  of  farming  would  be  to  get  up  an  agri- 
cultural fair  in  our  own  county  (Rutherford).  The 
day  was  appointed  to  have  a  mass  meeting  and  or- 
ganize for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  permanent 
county  fair. 

The  citizens  of  my  old  county  did  me  the  honor  of 
electing  me  president  by  acclamation.  All  the  other 
officers  were  elected.  The  secretary,  Capt.  Darragh, 
who  was  originally  from  Kentucky,  and  I  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  visit  the  north- 
ern part  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  and  select  the 
most  approved,  modern  models  for  an  amphitheater 
and  pagoda.  In  our  travels  we  procured  a  gentleman 
who  had  built  five  or  six  amphitheaters  in  his  own  state 
(Kentucky),  who  came  over  and  built  ours,  which  is 
now  standing  on  the  IMurfreesboro  and  Shelbyville 
turnpike  about  one  and  one-half  miles  from  the  public 
square  of  Murfreesboro,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  from  the  station  on  the  Nashville  and  Chatta- 
nooga Railroad.  We  have  had  a  number  of  successful 
fairs  at  this  place,  and  believe  it  has  been  the  means 
of  encouraging  the  farmers  of  our  county  and  the 
adjoining  ones  to  improve  their  stock  of  different 
kinds,  as  well  as  improving  their  lands.  Thus  the 
great  object  of  our  fairs  is  to  improve  our  domestic 
animals,  as  well  as  the  products  of  the  field  and 
garden ;  also  the  handiwork  of  the  ladies  in  the  fine 
arts   and   their   culinary   department,   as   well   as   the 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MULES  15 

improvement  in  agricultural  implements,  etc.  As  the 
citizens  of  my  county  did  me  the  honor  of  placing  me 
at  the  head  of  the  executive  department  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Association,  I  felt  I  was  under  obligations  to 
them  to  exert  myself  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability  in 
doing  all  I  could  to  introduce  such  stock  as  would 
promote  the  best  interests  of  the  association.  I  made 
it  a  point  to  visit  Kentucky  and  attend  the  most  popu- 
lar fairs  of  that  state  and  make  myself  familiar  with 
their  best  modes  of  conducting  their  fairs.  I  also 
visited  some  of  the  largest  annual  stock  sales,  such 
as  R.  A.  Alexander's,  Suddith's,  Grooms',  and  Van- 
meter's.  I  also  examined  the  renowned  shorthorn 
herd  of  Mr.  Abram  Reneck.  I  succeeded  in  purchas- 
ing some  fine  stock  that  was  quite  an  accession  to  my 
county.  More  than  one  generation  has  passed  since 
this  stock  was  introduced,  but  its  effects  can  be  seen 
now. 

These  agricultural  fairs  when  properly  conducted 
are  calculated  to  improve  the  country  in  many  re- 
spects. We  have  thought  that  there  was  too  much 
partiality  shown  the  speed  rings.  Instead  of  giving 
them  such  large  premiums  we  should  give  them  less, 
and  increase  the  premiums  to  those  who  are  engaged 
in  raising  the  best  specimens  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  rye, 
barley,  cotton  and  such  products  of  the  farm  as  are 
of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  general  farmer.  We  are 
in  favor  of  giving  liberal  premiums  to  the  animal  king- 
dom, such  as  horses,  mules,  jacks  and  jennets,  swine, 
sheep,  cattle  and  fowls.  The  ladies'  department  in 
the  floral  hall  should,  too,  receive  proper  encourage- 
ment. Those  who  generally  take  the  premiums  in  the 
speed    rings    are   not   usually    farmers,    but    make    a 


l6  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

Specialty  of  training  for  speed  alone,  and  should  go  to 
organized  race  courses. 

SECTION  FOURTH. 

The  different  breeds  of  jacks  have  been  given  by  my* 
friend,  W.  H.  Goodpasture,  with  a  good  deal  of  care. 
He  is  the  most  competent  gentleman  with  whom  I  am 
acquainted  to  perform  that  task,  having  seen  and 
handled  nearly  all  classes  of  that  stock. 

Now  it  will  be  my  purpose  to  give  instruction  as 
to  the  proper  care  of  jacks  and  jennets  while  they 
are  engaged  in  business.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  ma- 
jority of  grooms  allow  their  jacks  and  stallions  to 
do  too  much  business  in  a  day.  My  rule  is  to  limit 
them  to  two  services  a  day,  that  is,  in  twenty-four 
hours,  and  the  time  should  be  properly  divided,  one 
service  in  the  morning  and  the  other,  in  the  evening. 
I  never  allow  my  stock  to  do  business  on  the  Sabbath 
day. 

A  great  deal  of  an  animal's  service  is  wasted  by 
allowing  a  jack  or  stallion  to  serve  a  mare  or  jennet 
when  not  in  proper  season  or  heat ;  and  when  they  are 
served  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  about 
the  stable,  but  carried  away  where  they  will  not  see 
or  hear  a  jack  bray.  I  would  prefer  breeding  to  an 
animal  that  was  limited  in  his  service.  I  think  if  one 
of  those  peddling  stud  horse  men  that  travels  on  a 
circuit  and  allows  his  horse  or  jack  to  serve  a  number 
of  times  in  a  day,  going  from  one  stand  to  another, 
should  succeed  in  foaling,  the  progeny  will  be  so  weak 
and  feeble  that  they  will  have  to  be  held  up  to  let 
them  suck.  I  do  not  think  colts  produced  under  such 
circumstances  ever  make  strong,  serviceable  animals. 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MULES  1 7 

I  have  observed  where  boars  or  rams  that  have  been 
allowed  to  run  at  large,  and  are  overworked  that  a 
boar  will  produce  a  number  of  small  and  runty  pigs, 
and  rams  will  produce  the  same  kind  of  lambs.  Many 
of  them  will  die  where  they  are  lambed.  Hence,  I 
think  male  animals  should  be  properly  limited  in  their 
services. 

I  remember  a  conversation  with  Major  Bacon,  of 
South  Carolina,  while  attending  state  fairs  at  Macon, 
Ga.,  in  1873,  and  at  Atlanta  in  1874,  at  which  places 
he  won  the  two  mile  races  with  the  celebrated  race 
horse  Granger,  which  was  also  known  as  Wade  Hamp- 
ton. (I  will  state  I  also  took  premiums  with  my  jacks 
and  jennets,  Berkshire  hogs  and  Devon  bull  at  Macon, 
Ga.,  in  1873 ;  and  at  Atlanta  in  1874  with  my  jacks  and 
jennets,  Berkshire  hogs  and  Durham  bull.)  Major 
Bacon  was  a  very  successful  sportsman.  He  remarked 
to  me  that  the  reason  why  the  famous  race  horses  did 
not  produce  more  racers  like  themselves  was  that  they 
were  allowed  to  serve  too  many  mares  during  the 
season,  and  stated  he  did  not  want  his  retired  horses 
he  had  to  farm  out  to  serve  more  than  twenty-five 
mares  in  one  season  to  produce  race  horses.  Some 
horses  are  allowed  to  go  to  over  one  hundred  mares 
in  one  season.  I  think  the  same  rule  or  principle  will 
apply  to  all  male  animals. 

I  am  writing  this  book  in  my  eighty-sixth  year  of 
age,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  and  inexperi- 
enced stock  farmers  and  breeders,  and  I  am  sure  they 
will  excuse  my  plain,  practical,  unpretending  style. 
My  object  is  to  give  my  experience  and  observation. 
I  am  aware  that  I  am  making  many  digressions  from 
my  main  subject,  but  my  apology  is  to  illustrate  some 


l8  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OP 

practical  truth  that  I  hope  may  be  of  interest  to  my 
young  readers. 

I  remember  a  very  noted  trotting  stallion  that  stood 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  at  $ioo  per  mare.  He  did  a  very 
large  business  and  I  think  he  served  the  best  class  of 
trotting  mares,  and  if  he  ever  produced  over  a  very 
few  extra  winners  I  never  knew  them.  Blackwood 
ranked  among  the  first-class  trotting  stallions  of  his 
day.     I  think  he  was  over-taxed  with  business. 

I  think  it  best  to  have  a  stallion  to  tease  for  a  jack 
that  is  used  for  mares.  Some  mares  are  afraid  of 
jacks  and  will  not  show  sign  of  being  in  heat.  Hence 
it  is  best  to  have  a  stallion  as  a  teaser.  Now  from 
experience  and  observation  I  think  that  after  a  mare 
has  been  bred  she  ought  not  to  be  taken  back  until 
the  tenth  day  to  try  her.  Should  she  appear  to  be 
ill  do  not  have  her  teased  much,  but  after  she  has 
refused  once,  she  may  be  coaxed  more  the  second  or 
third  time.  While  I  am  writing  more  for  the  interest 
of  the  breeders  of  jacks  and  jennets,  I  wish  to  state 
just  here  that  I  have  found  that  plowing  mares  in 
rocky  or  rooty  ground  while  breeding  is  injurious. 
Would  advise,  that  if  the  mares  are  to  be  plowed,  let 
them  be  used  in  old  land,  clear  of  roots  and  rocks, 
and  use  mules  or  geldings  in  their  stead  until  you 
have  them  safely  in  foal.  Mares  when  breeding  and 
having  to  be  worked  in  rough,  rooty  or  rocky  ground, 
cast  off  a  great  deal  when  jerked  by  the  hitching  of 
the  plow,  etc.,  and  have  known  men  fail  to  get  colts 
under  such  circumstances.  Neither  should  they  be 
allowed  to  run  on  white  or  red  clover  in  bloom  or 
rye  at  this  time.  Another  important  point  I  wish  to 
call  the  attention  to  is,  after  a  mare  or  jennet  foals, 


JACKS,  JENNBTS  AND  MULKS  IQ 

the  mares  are  apt  to  come  in  heat  about  the  seventh 
or  eighth  day ;  should  you  fail  to  breed  them  then,  and 
they  go  out  of  heat,  they  sometimes  do  not  come  in 
while  nursing  or  suckling  their  colt.  Jennets  usually 
come  in  heat  later,  about  the  twelfth  or  fourteenth 
day,  and  if  you  fail  to  breed  them  then  you  may  not 
have  an  opportunity  of  breeding  while  she  is  nursing 
her  colt.  So  you  see  how  important  it  is  to  keep  a 
record  of  the  breeding  of  your  mares  and  jennets. 
After  the  colts  are  weaned  and  the  mare  or  jennet 
becomes  entirely  dry,  if  they  are  well  cared  for  and 
put  in  a  thriving  condition  they  are  apt  to  come  in 
heat  in  a  few  days.  Hence  how  important  it  is  to 
breed  at  the  right  time  and  not  lose  several  months  of 
the  proper  breeding  season. 

You  will  remember  that  a  mare  goes  eleven  months, 
and  if  she  is  a  very  old  mare  and  has  had  a  number 
of  colts,  will  often  go  over  her  regular  time.  I  have 
known  a  jennet  to  exceed  their  twelve  months,  espe- 
cially if  it  is  advanced  in  age  and  has  brought  a  num- 
ber of  colts.  I  want  to  call  the  attention  of  owners 
of  jennets  to  the  great  importance  of  keeping  a  close 
watch  over  them  at  the  time  they  are  due  to  foal. 
They  should  be  kept  away  from  other  stock,  and  if 
the  weather  is  unfavorable,  they  ought  to  be  placed  in 
a  foaling  stable  of  good  size,  say  from  twelve  by 
fifteen  feet,  and  sawdust  or  short  straw  for  the  jennet 
to  lie  on.  If  the  straw  should  be  long  the  colt  may 
get  tangled  in  it. 

When  the  time  is  due  for  the  jennet  to  foal  she 
should  be  noticed,  and  if  at  night  and  she  is  found 
restless  and  showing  signs  of  labor,  the  groom  should 
go  to  the  stable  with  a  lantern  and  stay  with  the  jennet 


20  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

until  her  labor  is  over  and  the  colt  is  able  to  get  up 
and  suck.  Then  the  groom  may  retire.  Sometimes 
jennets  have  inflamed  udders  and  are  sore  and  tender. 
When  that  is  the  case  they  will  not  allow  the  colt  to 
suck,  but  kick  and  bite  the  colt,  and  it  will  starve  if 
not  looked  after  properly.  When  this  is  the  case  the 
jennet  will  have  to  be  milked  carefully  and  the  udder 
bathed  in  warm  salt  water  to  keep  the  bag  from  rising. 
I  have  known  jennets  to  bite  off  the  tails  of  their  colts. 
I  think  when  the  jennet  has  an  undue  amount  of 
milk  in  her  bag,  and  it  threatens  to  rise,  she  should 
be  milked  some  before  she  foals.  Some  jennets  give 
great  quantities  of  milk.  It  is  a  good  plan  not  to 
give  much  stimulating  food  before  she  is  due  to  foal, 
and  not  have  her  too  fat.  When  the  colt  is  born,  it 
sometimes  has  the  membrane  over  its  head  and  nos- 
trils, and  if  it  is  not  torn  and  removed,  it  will  smother 
the  colt.  How  important  it  is  then  that  a  competent 
groom  should  be  present  and  remove  the  trouble. 
Then  again  there  may  be  a  malformation  or  a  wrong 
presentation  of  the  colt;  the  feet  may  be  presented 
instead  of  the  head.  In  this  instance  the  feet  must 
be  reduced,  that  is  pushed  back,  and  the  head  brought 
forward.  If  you  have  a  fine  and  valuable  jennet,  and 
you  have  such  complications,  would  advise  you  to  have 
a  veterinary  surgeon  called  in.  It  is  now  and  then 
that  the  navel  cord  is  tough  and  does  not  give  way 
or  break.  If  it  is  pulsating  after  the  colt  is  born,  it 
should  be  tied  with  a  silk  or  flax  thread,  and  then 
cut  three  or  four  inches  from  the  navel.  Jack  colts  are 
liable  to  have  trouble  with  the  navel,  same  as  a  child 
— a  disease  called  trismus,  a  species  of  lockjaw,  which 
I  never  saw  in  a  child  (and  practiced  medicine  from 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  21 

thirty-five  to  forty  years),  but  have  seen  it  in  a  jack 
colt,  and  never  knew  one  to  recover.  The  colt  will 
throw  its  ears  on  his  neck  and  appear  to  have  little 
or  no  use  of  himself,  and  will  linger  from  three  to 
seven  days  and  die.  My  opinion  is  the  navel  cord  has 
been  the  principal  cause  of  the  trouble;  i.  e.,  the  pull- 
ing or  irritating  of  the  nerves  connected  with  the 
navel. 

The  jack  stock  is  very  tender  when  young,  and 
should  have  vigilant  attention.  I  know  of  no  stock 
that  pays  a  man  better  than  the  first-class  stock  of 
this  character.  I  have  known  of  some  jennets  that 
have  brought  their  owners  as  high  as  ten  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  stock. 

I  trust  I  will  be  pardoned  for  another  digression. 
I  want  to  relate  a  circumstance  that  occurred  in  Ken- 
tucky to  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Knox,  who 
lived  in  Boyle  County,  near  Danville,  Ky.  His 
father  gave  him  fifty  acres  of  land  to  start  him  in 
business;  he  commenced  raising  corn  and  hogs,  and 
succeeded  in  that  business  very  well,  for  that  kind 
of  occupation.  He  said  some  years  he  had  cholera 
among  his  hogs  and  they  would  die.  Then  when  they 
had  drouth,  the  corn  crop  failed,  so  then  he  had  hogs 
and  no  corn,  and  when  the  cholera  killed  his  hogs,  he 
had  corn  and  no  hogs.  He  became  discouraged.  He 
had  a  neighbor  who  had  two  jennets  over  medium 
size  and  quality;  he  bred  them  to  the  best  jennet  jacks 
in  the  country,  and  was  lucky  to  get  jack  colts.  They 
were  well  nursed.  The  owner  had  two  small  blue 
grass  lots  where  he  kept  his  jennets  and  colts  and 
would  change  them  from  one  to  the  other  as  was  neces- 
sary.    When  the  jack  colts  became  able  to  consume 


22  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

all  of  their  dams'  milk,  he  would  give  them  warm 
milk  from  a  cow,  and  at  weaning  time  they  were  of 
fine  size,  looking  well.  He  succeeded  in  selling  them 
for  $500,  each,  making  $1,000  a  year.  Major  Knox 
saw  what  his  old  neighbor  was  doing,  and  went  to 
consult  his  father,  and  he  told  his  son  that  he  was 
doing  very  well,  and  he  thought  it  was  well  enough  to 
let  well  enough  alone.  But  Major  Knox  said  that 
the  old  man  who  owned  the  jennets  was  doing  nothing 
but  smoke  his  pipe  and  feed  the  jennets  and  caress 
the  colts,  while  he  (Knox)  and  a  negro  man  he  had 
hired  to  help  him  make  corn  and  raise  hogs,  were 
beaten  so  badly  in  making  money  that  he  would  act 
contrary  to  his  father's  advice.  So  he  bought  two 
jennets  that  he  thought  a  little  superior  to  his  neigh- 
bor's. He  also  bred  them  to  the  best  jennet  jack  he 
could  find.  The  Major  was  succeeding  finely  when 
the  Civil  War  came  on  in  1861.  He  had  succeeded  in 
selling  $10,000  worth  of  jack  and  jennet  stock  in  one 
year,  and  had  increased  his  farm  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  his  land  then  worth  $150 
per  acre.  He  made  the  jack  and  jennet  stock  a 
specialty,  taking  premiums  wherever  he  showed  his 
stock.  Never  overstocking  himself,  he  did  not  have 
more  stock  than  he  could  keep  in  first-class  order. 
So  when  a  customer  would  call  to  see  his  stock  he 
could  show  to  the  best  advantage.  I  remember  visit- 
ing his  farm  on  one  occasion  when  the  Major  was 
absent,  but  his  interest  was  well  represented  by  his 
most  excellent  wife.  She  had  the  groom  to  lead  the 
stock  up  to  the  yard  and  had  them  shown  to  the  best 
advantage.  She  was  familiar  with  the  merits  of  the 
stock  and  nothing  was  lost  by  the  owner's  being 
absent. 


JACKS,  JKNNETS    AND   MULES  23 

I  think  it  wisdom  for  a  man  not  to  keep  more  stock 
than  he  can  keep  well.  Stock  farmers  often  lose  by 
having  more  animals  than  they  can  do  justice  to.  He 
may  have  fine,  well-bred  animals,  but  if  he  has  neg- 
lected them  and  a  customer  calls  to  see  them  an  un- 
favorable impression  is  made  on  his  mind  and  he  goes 
home  without  making  a  purchase.  Now  you  see  the 
fault  is  in  the  owner  and  not  in  the  stock. 

If  my  memory  serves  me  correctly,  I  was  shown 
one  of  Major  Knox's  premium  jennets  that  he  rated 
at  $2,000.  The  year  that  he  sold  $10,000  worth  of 
jacks  and  jennets,  one  of  the  animals  was  a  three-year- 
old  jack  he  called  Black  Mammoth  that  my  old  friend, 
Robert  Rains,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  bought  especially 
for  a  jennet  jack.  He  was  a  very  superior  animal  and 
made  his  mark  in  Middle  Tennessee.  Black  Mam- 
moth was  a  half-brother  to  my  jennet  jack,  Maringo 
Mammoth.  I  think  Mr.  Rains  stood  his  jack  at  $40 
per  jennet.  That  was  what  I  stood  my  jack  at.  I  am 
sure  I  could  get  competent  stockmen  who  would  testify 
to  the  best  of  their  belief  that  Maringo  Mammoth  and 
his  progeny  have  been  worth  to  Tennessee  $100,000. 
It  is  hard  to  estimate  the  value  of  a  No.  i  jennet  jack 
that  is  producing  jacks  selling  from  $1,000  to  $3,000, 
and  his  jennets  $500,  frequently,  and  upwards.  One 
of  my  neighbors  owned  a  jennet  not  exceeding  four- 
teen hands  high  that  brought  him  $10,000  worth  of 
jacks  and  jennets.  I  believe  the  jennet  is  still  living. 
She  was  the  property  of  the  late  H.  C.  Ezell,  of 
Davidson  County,  Tennessee  (Old  Ann  is  the  name). 

When  I  first  knew  Mr.  H.  C.  Ezell,  which  was  fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  ago,  he  was  engaged  in  farming  on  a 
small  scale.     He  farmed  jacks  on  the  shares  from 


24  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

Mr.  Robert  Rains,  to  stand  for  mares.  Soon  after  he 
purchased  the  jennet  just  alluded  to  and  bred  her  to 
a  jack  that  he  afterwards  owned,  called  Starlight,  Sr. 
It  was  from  this  stock  that  he  had  such  wonderful  suc- 
cess. The  Starlights  became  a  very  popular  breed 
of  jacks,  and  justly  so.  At  the  deceased  sale  of  Mr. 
H.  C.  Ezell  there  were  a  large  number  of  jacks  and 
jennets  sold  which  brought  to  the  estate  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars — all  produced  through  the  jack  stock 
with  his  great  energy,  his  vigilance  and  his  good  man- 
agement. I  think  any  young  man  can  meet  with  the 
same  success  with  the  same  amount  of  energy  and 
good  judgment.  This  great  success  was  accomplished 
on  a  small  farm.  We  think  one  of  the  secrets  of  his 
success  was  to  keep  the  best  of  his  stock  at  home 
where  his  customers  could  see  them,  and  he  would  buy 
up  his  jacks'  best  colts  and  was  able  to  sell  them  for 
a  prospective  value.  Mr.  Ezell  kept  a  few  of  his  best 
jacks  and  jennets  and  would  show  them  at  the  stock 
fairs  and  was  very  successful  in  his  exhibition. 

We  think  it  a  good  rule  where  a  stock  breeder  is 
able,  to  keep  a  number  of  good  animals  at  his  stable 
so  that  his  customers  can  be  accommodated  in  breed- 
ing their  mares  and  jennets  at  one  stand.  Where  there 
is  only  one  jack  and  one  stallion,  perhaps  they  may 
be  crowded  and  they  will  turn  off  their  customers  for 
two  or  three  days,  and  by  that  time  perhaps  the  mare 
or  jennet  may  have  gone  out  of  heat.  Should  they  be 
nursing  a  colt  they  may  not  come  in  heat  again  while 
they  are  nursing,  and  the  owner  of  the  mare  or  jennet 
may  lose  the  best  of  the  breeding  season.  One  groom 
can  care  for  several  jacks  and  a  stallion.  The  French 
keep  several  animals  at  one  stand,  so  they  can  always 
supply  the  demands  of  their  patrons. 


JACKS,   JKNNKTS   AND   MUIvES  25 

SECTION  FIFTH. 
When  a  jennet  has  nursed  her  colt  six  months,  and 
is  in  foal,  the  colt  ought  to  be  weaned.  If  a  jennet  is 
allowed  to  suckle  her  colt  unduly  long  and  she  is  in 
foal,  the  one  she  is  carrying  is  liable  to  be  made  a 
dwarf.  I  have  known  this  to  be  done.  Where  a  man 
has  a  very  promising  jack  colt  that  is  growing  fast, 
and  he  has  every  reason  to  believe  he  will  make  a  fine 
show  animal,  and  he  wants  to  take  him  to  the  fairs, 
it  is  a  great  inducement  to  have  the  colt  suck  until  the 
fairs  are  over,  hoping  to  take  premiums  with  him.  I 
want  the  young  reader  to  remember  when  this  is  done 
he  is  damaging  the  fetus  the  jennet  is  carrying.  When 
we  wish  to  prepare  a  colt  for  the  fair,  and  want  to 
give  it  every  advantage,  it  is  best  not  to  breed  the 
jennet  that  year,  and  let  the  jack  colt  nurse  until  he 
is  a  year  old  or  over.  When  a  jack  colt  is  allowed 
to  run  with  a  herd  until  he  is  a  year  old  and  has  be- 
come well  developed  he  is  liable  to  become  spoiled  by 
being  with  jennets  coming  in  heat,  and  may  become 
so  much  enamored  with  them  that  he  will  have  a 
strong  partiality  for  his  own  species  over  mares.  I 
have  heard  of  jack  colts  running  with  their  dams  until 
they  would  get  them  with  foal.  This  inbreeding  of 
stock  will  bring  about  malformation  and  impair  the 
constitution. 

I  cannot  impress  too  strongly  on  young  stock  breed- 
ers the  great  importance  of  vigilant  care  in  rearing 
young  jacks.  They  must  be  kept  where  they  cannot 
see  or  smell  jennets  until  they  are  well  broken  or 
trained  to  serve  mares  properly.  I  allude  to  mule 
jacks.  I  once  owned  a  jack  that  was  partial  to  mares, 
and   would  not   serve   jennets   without  a   mare   was 


26         BREEDING  AND  REARING  OP 

brought  before  him,  and  let  him  get  ready  to  serve 
a  mare  before  he  would  serve  a  jennet.  I  well  remem- 
ber one  of  our  imported  Catalonia  three-year-old  jacks 
that  I  had  broken  to  serve  mares  and  by  accident  a 
jennet  that  was  in  heat  broke  out  of  her  lot  and  came 
to  the  lot  where  this  jack  (Tennessee  Giant,  for  that 
was  his  name)  was.  She  stood  by  the  gate  with  open 
slats  where  the  jack  could  smell  her  all  night.  The 
jack  did  not  get  to  serve  her,  but  he  became  so  much 
enamored  with  her  that  it  was  some  time  before  we 
could  get  him  to  serve  mares  again.  He  was  sixteen 
hands  high,  black  and  with  white  points.  He  was 
strictly  a  jennet  jack.  We  rated  him  at  $2,000.  It 
has  been  our  custom  to  first  train  our  jennet  jacks  to 
serve  mares  before  they  are  broken  to  serve  jennets. 
Some  times  we  want  our  jennet  jack  to  serve  a  few 
mares  when  he  is  not  engaged  with  jennets.  So  we 
think  it  best  to  break  them  to  serve  both  mares  and 
jennets,  even  where  you  expect  to  make  jennets  almost 
a  specialty. 

As  long  as  I  have  been  in  the  jack  and  jennet  busi- 
ness I  have  known  but  few  breeders  who  have  not 
reared  some  jacks  that  were  spoiled  in  their  raising  by 
allowing  them  to  associate  with  their  own  species  too 
long  when  colts.  When  this  is  the  case  the  value  of 
the  jack  is  reduced  to  about  one-half  of  a  mule  jack. 
So  you  will  readily  see  how  important  it  is  for  a 
breeder  to  keep  his  jack  colts  away  from  jennets  or 
even  mules,  and  let  them  be  put  with  fillies  about  their 
own  age  and  continue  with  them  until  the  jack  colt 
becomes  too  rough  for  the  filly  colt.  When  the  jack 
colt  is  associated  with  a  filly  he  becomes  attached  to 
her  and  when  he  becomes  about  twenty  or  twenty- 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MULES  2^ 

four  months  old,  and  is  well  matured  for  that  age, 
he  might  be  permitted  to  serve  a  mare.  In  breaking 
the  jack  colt  you  should  be  very  careful  and  not  allow 
him  to  be  kicked  or  bitten,  or  go  about  a  mare  that  is 
ill  and  will  switch  her  tail  and  back  her  ears.  Such 
action  on  the  part  of  the  mare  is  calculated  to  in- 
timidate a  young  jack,  but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  best 
to  have  a  low  mare  that  the  jack  will  not  have  to 
strain  himself  in  getting  up  on,  and  it  is  best 
to  have  her  served  by  another  jack  or  stallion  so 
that  she  will  be  in  good  heat  and  make  no  resistance. 
I  used  to  break  my  young  jacks  by  using  an  Indian 
pony  mare. 

I  am  not  writing  this  book  for  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  nor  for  the  general  public,  but  for  the  young 
jack  and  jennet  breeders  that  want  information  on 
that  subject.  Having  known  so  many  fine  jacks 
spoiled  by  carelessness  or  for  the  want  of  experience 
or  information  is  my  apology  for  writing  on  the  sub- 
ject with  so  much  plainness  and  precision. 

I  have  often  been  consulted  in  regard  to  young 
jacks  springing  in  their  fore  legs.  While  the  colt  is 
very  young  the  animal  matter  predominates  over  the 
bony  or  calcareous  matter.  Hence,  they  are  liable  to 
spring  or  give  way,  especially  when  the  colt  com- 
mences to  graze  and  the  grass  is  short.  He  is  re- 
quired to  put  too  much  weight  on  one  of  his  fore  legs 
to  enable  him  to  reach  the  grass,  hence  there  is  a 
giving  way  in  the  joints.  It  is  usually  the  knee  that 
springs  in,  or  out,  but  some  time  the  ankle  gives  way 
or  I  have  known  the  arm  joint  to  fail.  Then  again 
where  the  jack  colt  has  a  very  low  dam,  and  he  is 
tall  and  has  to  stoop  to  suck,  compelling  him  to  put 


28  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

undue  weight  on  one  of  his  limbs,  springing  is  likely 
to  result. 

Now  when  the  short  grazing  is  the  cause  of  the 
trouble  the  colt  can  be  put  in  the  stable  and  fed  with 
suitable  food.  Green  food  can  be  cut  and  carried  to 
him  so  he  will  not  have  to  expose  the  limbs  by  grazing. 
Should  the  springing  be  caused  by  the  dam  being  so 
low,  it  may  be  obviated  by  the  colt  being  put  in  a 
stable  and  fed  on  cow's  milk,  or  milk  from  his  dam; 
some  jennets  give  large  quantities  of  milk.  I  am 
aware  that  this  course  of  treatment  would  give  the 
owner  much  trouble  and  worry.  But  after  the  colt 
is  from  one  to  two  years  old,  he  is  not  so  liable  to 
spring.  When  the  bony  matter  predominates  over  the 
animal  matter  the  trouble  subsides.  A  fine,  well-bred 
jack  colt,  that  promises  to  make  an  extra  good  animal, 
will  pay  his  owner  to  give  him  some  attention  when 
young.  From  my  long  experience  in  handling  this 
stock,  I  do  not  know  of  any  animal  that  is  more 
remunerative  than  the  growth  of  a  fine  jack  colt. 

From  what  has  been  written  as  regards  rearing 
jacks  and  jennets,  you  will  perceive  how  careful  we 
should  be  in  the  selection  of  our  stock  to  commence 
rearing  a  herd.  In  selecting  a  jennet  jack  we  should 
bear  in  mind  that  as  a  general  rule  in  breeding 
stock  like  begets  like ;  hence  we  should  select  a  model 
jack  as  near  as  possible  in  every  respect — form,  size, 
color,  constitution  and  a  good  general  make-up.  In 
judging  of  the  constitution  the  animal  should  have  a 
well  developed  chest,  plenty  of  room  for  the  heart  and 
lungs  to  play.  Bear  in  mind  that  they  are  the  principal 
vital  organs  in  all  domestic  animals.  Length  is  an 
essential  point  in  the  make-up  of  a  jennet  jack.    I  re- 


JACKS,  JENNKTS   AND   MUI.KS  29 

gard  it  of  more  importance  than  height,  yet  the  height 
has  its  bearing  in  the  selling  of  a  jack  as  well  as  a 
mule.  Mules  are  generally  classified  by  their  height, 
and  more  importance  is  attached  to  it  than  I  think 
should  be.  A  jennet  jack  ought  to  have  a  long,  thin, 
bony  head,  with  long,  well-tapered  ears,  sitting  grace- 
fully on  his  head;  large,  flat,  clean  limbs,  big  foot, 
deeply  cupped.  As  to  color,  it  should  be  a  good  black 
with  distinct  white  points.  The  pelvis,  or  breadth  of 
hips,  is  very  essential,  either  in  jack  or  jennet.  I  have 
known  jennets  so  deficient  or  narrow  in  the  pelvis  that 
they  had  great  difficulty  in  giving  birth  to  their  off- 
spring. 


30  BREEDING  AND  REARING  OF 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING   JACKS. 

SECTION   SIXTH. 

A  breeding  jack  to  keep  him  healthy  and  vigorous, 
should  not  be  confined  unduly  to  his  stable.  He  should 
run  out  in  his  lot  twelve  hours  in  twenty-four  if  the 
weather  is  favorable.  Feed  him  principally  on  shelled 
oats  and  wheat  bran — sheaf  oats  cut  fine  and  mixed 
wheat  bran  and  occasionally  shorts ;  put  enough  water 
to  make  the  bran  stick  to  the  oats,  add  a  little  salt  to 
give  the  food  a  good  relish.  The  bran  acts  as  a 
laxative.  Jacks  are  inclined  to  be  costive.  When  this 
is  the  trouble  give  a  mash  and  increase  his  green  food. 
Green  wheat  and  barley  are  good  grazing  for  jacks. 
Never  give  more  than  two  to  four  ears  of  corn  at  a 
feed.  Should  you  notice  the  jack  inclined  to  rub  his 
body  or  bite  his  limbs  you  had  better  stop  giving  him 
corn.  Jacks  are  subject  to  sores  in  hot  weather,  espe- 
cially if  they  are  kept  in  the  stable  too  much,  and  fed 
on  corn  unduly.  I  have  known  them  ruined  by  letting 
them  have  chronic  sores,  which  caused  their  death. 
You  will  please  bear  this  in  mind,  not  to  keep  your 
jacks  too  much  confined,  or  to  feed  unduly  on  corn. 
I  do  not  remember  ever  seeing  jennets  have  sores 
that  were  allowed  to  run  in  the  open  air  and  graze. 
I  am  sure  that  jacks  would  live  much  longer  and  be 
more  prolific  if  they  were  allowed  more  freedom  in 
the  open  air  and  allowed  to  follow  their  instincts. 
They  are  great  animals  to  wallow.     I  think  it  a  good 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MULES  3I 

rule  to  have  a  suitable  place  In  his  lot  dug  up,  and  if 
there  are  clods,  have  them  mashed  and  let  him  have 
a  soft  place  to  wallow.  Where  an  animal  is  accus- 
tomed to  roll  or  wallow  every  day  the  place  becomes 
very  hard,  and  if  it  is  not  dug  up  occasionally  it  may 
bruise  his  withers  and  produce  fistula. 

In  building  a  jack  stable  it  should  be  large  and 
roomy  so  that  he  can  exercise  some  in  bad  weather. 
There  should  be  no  cracks  in  the  stable  that  an  animal 
can  get  his  feet  through.  Some  log  stables  have  cracks 
large  enough  to  let  an  animal  get  his  foot  in  them  and 
break  his  leg.  Have  known  such  instances.  In  build- 
ing a  stable  let  the  door  be  roomy  and  on  the  south 
side. 

The  lot  should  be  at  least  one  acre  and  sowed  down 
in  blue  grass,  herd's  grass,  orchard  grass  and  timothy, 
provided  the  soil  is  suitable  for  such  grasses.  By  hav- 
ing different  kinds  of  grass  it  gives  the  animal  a 
variety  of  grazing  and  some  one  of  them  will  afford 
good  grazing  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Now  I  would 
suggest  that  you,  if  convenient,  have  a  small  lot  of  a 
quarter  of  an  acre  and  let  the  jack  exercise  in  it  and 
roll,  or  wallow,  then  he  can  be  let  in  his  grazing  lot 
and  when  he  has  filled  himself  put  him  in  his  exer- 
cising pound.  By  so  doing  you  can  economize  in 
saving  your  grass.  Stock  do  not  like  to  eat  grass 
where  it  has  been  walked  over  by  other  stock.  It  is 
important  to  give  plenty  of  good,  sweet  timothy  or 
herd's  grass,  well-cured  fodder  or  such  roughness  as 
the  animal  is  fond  of. 

The  stable  should  be  kept  dry. 

If  the  jack  is  kept  shod  during  the  breeding  season, 
Ills  shoes  should  be  taken  off  to  let  his  hoofs  toughen, 


32  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

When  the  flies  are  very  bad  and  the  jack  stamps  his 
feet  he  is  liable  to  break  them  and  make  himself  lame. 
When  this  is  the  case  the  animals  had  better  be  shod 
until  the  flies  quit  fretting  the  stock.  Some  times 
you  may  use  train  oil  or  some  remedy  that  will  keep 
the  flies  away  from  the  stock  by  applying  occasionally 
while  they  are  so  annoying.  A  dark  stable  will  usually 
keep  them  away  in  the  day  and  the  stock  can  run  out 
at  night  when  there  are  no  flies  to  worry  them. 

SECTION  SEVENTH. 

As  I  am  writing  this  book  for  the  interest  of  my 
young  countrymen  and  wishing  to  give  them  my  ex- 
perience, I  have  concluded  to  give  them  a  brief  history 
of  one  of  my  trips  after  the  Civil  War  of  i86i  to  1865, 
inclusive.  Previous  to  the  war  I  was  extensively  en- 
gaged in  breeding  stock,  especially  the  jack  and  jennet. 
I  had  procured  a  first-class  jennet  jack,  Maringo 
Mammoth,  at  the  cost  of  $2,160,  and  used  him  ex- 
clusively as  a  jennet  jack  at  $40  per  jennet. 

I  had  at  that  time  about  seventy-five  jacks  and  jen- 
nets and  was  compelled  to  farm  many  of  them  out 
to  stockmen  on  the  shares.  I  tried  to  select  good, 
steady,  sober,  upright  men,  that  had  farms  of  their 
own  and  men  that  would  take  care  of  them,  those  who 
had  grass  and  were  fond  of  this  class  of  stock.  I  had 
selected  men  from  my  own  county  (Rutherford),  Bed- 
ford, Cannon,  Coffee,  Wilson,  and  Marshall  counties. 
They  had  given  me  their  obligations  to  take  special 
good  care  of  my  jennets  and  be  at  all  expense  in  breed- 
ing and  rearing  of  said  stock  for  a  period  of  some 
three  years,  and  some  five  years.  They  also  agreed 
and  bound  themselves  to  consult  me  in  the  breeding 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MUI.ES  33 

of  the  jennets;  they  were  not  to  breed  to  jacks  that 
stood  for  mares,  but  were  to  breed  to  the  best  jacks 
that  were  standing  for  jennets  alone.  My  object  was 
to  improve  my  stock,  and  make  it  better  all  the  time. 
I  was  sure  that  all  of  the  jennets  I  owned  or  had 
farmed  out,  if  bred  to  such  jacks  as  Maringo  Mam- 
moth, and  should  bring  jack  colts,  and  were  properly 
cared  for,  could  be  readily  sold  for  remunerative 
prices,  say  from  $500  to  $1,000  or  more  at  maturity. 
At  the  expiration  of  the  time  for  which  the  stock  was 
farmed  out,  the  original  jennets  were  to  be  returned 
to  me  in  as  good  condition  as  when  they  were  taken 
away.  Of  some  of  the  premium  jennets,  I  was  to 
have  two-thirds  of  the  produce,  and  of  the  others  one- 
half. 

But  when  the  four  years'  war  ended,  many  of  the 
farms  in  my  section  (Middle  Tennessee)  were  torn  to 
pieces,  both  armies  having  been  about  there  for  a 
number  of  months,  and  finally  met  at  our  city,  Mur- 
freesboro,  and  fought  one  of  the  heavy  battles  of  the 
war,  called  the  Battle  of  Stone's  River,  or  Battle  of 
Murfreesboro.  Many  of  the  parties  came  to  me  and 
said  that  they  were  not  able  to  carry  out  the  contract 
that  they  had  made  with  me  before  the  war;  that 
they  were  left  in  destitute  circumstances.  They  could 
scarcely  get  bread  for  their  children.  They  stated 
that  the  mares  were  nearly  all  taken  out  of  the  coun- 
try by  the  soldiers,  and  if  they  had  jacks  they  would 
be  of  no  value  to  them  then.  So  they  insisted  posi- 
tively that  I  must  take  the  stock  and  release  them  of 
any  further  obligation  and  give  up  the  breeding  bills 
and  that  I  should  have  all  the  proceeds  up  to  that 
date.     I  told  my  patrons  it  was  a  liberal  proposition 


34  BREEDING  AND   REARING  OF 

on  their  part,  but  I  stated  it  was  like  putting  five 
wheels  to  a  wagon.  I  thought  I  might  be  able  to  care 
for  the  stock  through  the  spring,  summer  and  fall 
months,  by  grazing  them  on  my  farm  of  several  hun- 
dred acres,  nearly  all  well  set  in  grasses  adapted  to 
the  different  qualities  of  the  soil,  but  knew  I  could 
not  possibly  care  for  them  during  the  winter  under 
existing  circumstances. 

This  stock  could  not  be  disposed  of  in  my  country, 
owing  to  the  ravages  of  the  war,  but  must  be  taken 
off  where  the  people  had  not  suffered  so  much,  and 
where  such  stock  was  needed,  and  also  where  there 
was  money.  I  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine 
at  the  time,  but  gave  that  up  in  order  to  take  my  sur- 
plus stock  off  and  try  to  dispose  of  them  before  winter. 
I  began  making  my  preliminary  arrangements  for  a 
trip :  procured  a  suitable  two-horse  wagon  and  a  camp- 
ing equipage,  making  arrangements  for  a  camp  life. 
I  procured  a  very  good  salesman  to  aid  me  in  dispos- 
ing of  my  stock  in  the  event  I  should  get  sick  or 
unable  to  attend  to  business.  I  also  procured  a  hand 
for  every  four  or  five  jacks.  I  had  the  animals 
coupled  together  with  a  check  stick  so  as  to  prevent 
them  from  biting  or  rearing  on  each  other.  I  taught 
them  to  stand  beside  each  other  a  short  time  before 
coupling  them  together  for  the  road.  The  jacks  soon 
learned  to  walk  side  by  side  after  a  little  training. 
I  had  the  jacks  to  travel  in  front  of  the  wagon  and 
the  jennets  behind  the  wagon,  to  prevent  the  jacks 
from  fretting  after  the  jennets.  I  had  small  boxes 
made  to  feed  the  jacks  in,  one  made  a  little  larger  than 
the  other  so  as  to  let  them  fit  in  each  other  that  they 
could  be  handled  in  the  wagon  without  taking  up 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MULES  35 

much  room.  We  usually  got  suitable  pastures  for  our 
jennets,  but  the  jacks  were  kept  haltered  to  trees  if 
we  were  camping  in  the  woods,  or  to  fences,  as  the  case 
required.  Our  wagon  cover  was  waterproof,  which 
kept  our  bed  clothing  and  wearing  apparel  dry. 

We  were  now  ready  to  start  on  our  campaign. 
About  the  15th  of  September,  1865,  we  were  on  our 
route  to  southern  Illinois.  Had  some  of  my  kind 
neighbors  to  go  with  me  for  a  day  or  two  so  as  to  get 
my  stock  accustomed  to  the  road.  We  started  with 
fifty  head — twenty-five  jacks  and  twenty-five  jennets. 
We  traveled  by  way  of  Clarksville,  Tenn.,  and  crossed 
the  Cumberland  river  above  the  city  a  few  miles. 
There  we  had  some  trouble  with  our  jennets.  We 
could  not  take  all  of  our  jennets  at  one  time,  owing 
to  the  size  of  the  ferryboat,  which  was  small  and  had 
no  banisters  to  it.  After  we  got  the  second  load  of 
jennets  in  the  boat  and  had  left  the  shore  a  short  dis- 
tance the  jennets  became  frightened  and  commenced 
jumping  overboard  into  the  river  and  swam  ashore. 
I  came  very  near  being  run  over  by  the  stock  as  they 
left  the  boat.  We  should  have  had  a  better  boat  for 
ferrying  loose  stock!  This  stock  is  afraid  of  water 
and  we  have  trouble  frequently  in  getting  them  to 
cross  water  on  a  bridge.  Have  had  to  put  a  rope 
around  the  under  jaw  and  tie  it  to  my  horse's  tail  and 
have  two  strong  men  to  take  a  plank  or  pole  and  put 
it  behind  the  jack's  rump  and  have  the  men  to  push 
while  the  horse  pulled  by  his  tail.  This  has  been  done 
frequently  in  getting  the  stock  to  cross  branches  and 
creeks  where  there  is  no  bridge.  H  you  are  handling 
this  stock  and  have  to  travel  much  with  them  you  will 
soon  become  acquainted  with  some  of  their  peculiar 


36  BREEDING  AND   REARING  OF 

characteristics.  After  crossing  the  Cumberland  river 
we  moved  on  to  the  neighborhood  of  Hopkinsville, 
Ky.,  where  we  spent  the  Sabbath. 

On  Monday  morning  we  made  our  first  sale.  We 
made  it  a  rule  not  to  travel  or  trade  on  the  Lord's  day. 
We  sold  a  very  fine  four-year-old  jack  that  I  had 
raised,  called  Beauregard,  to  a  company  of  four  nice 
gentlemen  who  paid  me  nine  hundred  dollars  cash. 
He  was  a  good  jennet  jack  and  was  sired  by  an  im- 
ported jack  called  Prince  Napoleon,  that  was  imported 
by  General  Edney,  of  North  Carolina,  while  consul, 
during  President  Polk's  administration.  The  dam  of 
this  jack  was  a  premium  jennet  for  a  half  interest  in 
which  I  gave  my  brother.  General  J.  M.  Knight,  $250. 
She  was  sired  by  my  jennet  jack  Maringo  Mammoth. 
Beauregard  made  quite  a  character  as  a  fine  breeder, 
for  both  mares  and  jennets,  around  Hopkinsville,  Ky. 

My  next  sale  was  between  Hopkinsville  and  Prince- 
ton, Ky.  I  sold  a  half-interest  in  a  four-year-old  jack, 
fifteen  hands  high,  a  dapple  gray,  to  Mr.  Clardy,  who 
formerly  lived  in  Bedford  County,  Tennessee,  and 
had  made  quite  a  reputation  for  handling  good  stock, 
especially  the  saddle  stallions.  He  reared  the  noted 
horse.  Blue  John,  that  was  so  famous  for  producing 
that  class  of  stock.  This  horse  was  taken  by  the  Fed- 
eral soldiers  during  the  Civil  War  into  Indiana  and 
was  subsequently  brought  back  to  Tennessee,  where 
he  made  his  mark.  Mr.  Clardy  gave  me  $400  for  one- 
half  interest  in  this  jack  and  was  to  keep  him  five  years 
and  be  at  all  expenses  for  that  period,  except  that  I 
was  to  pay  one-half  of  the  United  States  government 
tax  ($10),  and  for  half  of  a  ten-dollar  show  bridle. 
I  also  fatmed  Mr.   Clardy  one  of  my  fine  jennets, 


JACKS,  JKNNKTS   AND  MULES  37 

with  a  sucking  jennet  colt,  which  he  was  to  keep  and 
breed  for  five  years  and  return  the  jennets.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time  this  sucking  colt  had  a  fine 
sucking  jack  colt  worth  $200.  I  bought  Mr.  Clardy's 
interest  in  all  the  stock  and  shipped  them  home  to 
Middle  Tennessee — Murfreesboro. 

We  crossed  the  Ohio  river  at  a  place  called  Cave 
in  the  Rock.  Here  one  of  the  young  men  came  to  me 
and  told  me  he  could  not  swim  and  was  afraid  to  cross 
the  river;  that  he  had  a  cousin  living  in  the  Ken- 
tucky purchase  and  he  preferred  staying  with  him 
until  I  returned  from  Illinois.  After  crossing  the 
river  I  sold  one  of  my  young  jacks  to  an  aged  Irishr 
man  whose  name  I  have  forgotten.  There  was  an 
agricultural  fair  going  on  near  the  river  and  we  con- 
cluded to  stop  over  and  show  our  stock.  We  took 
some  premiums.  I  remember  there  was  a  premium 
offered  for  the  best  and  fastest  saddle  stallion  one 
mile  and  repeat.  I  owned  old  Brown  Pilott  and  was 
riding  and  driving  my  jennets  that  trip  on  him.  I  did 
not  have  any  time  to  prepare  him  for  the  race,  but  he 
had  been  trained  and  raced  before  with  some  success. 
I  think  he  was  sired  by  Brown  Pilott,  of  Kentucky. 
My  horse,  Brown  Pilott,  was  the  sire  of  the  noted 
pacing  horse  Bone  Setter,  Brooks  and  other  good  ones. 
I  had  a  young  man  with  me,  a  good  rider,  and  had 
my  horse  ridden  around  the  track  several  times  in 
a  brisk  pace  so  as  to  make  him  familiar  with  it,  but 
not  strain  or  make  him  track-sore.  So  when  the  day  of 
the  race  came  there  were  six  entries  and  there  had 
been  a  heavy  rain.  The  track  was  muddy  and  there 
was  a  swag  in  the  track  for  about  fifty  yards  wide,  the 
water  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  so  that  the  horse  had 


3S  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

to  pace  through.  Brown  Pilott  won  the  race  in  good 
style  in  two  heats.  The  riders  were  so  wet  and  muddy- 
it  was  hard  to  tell  one  from  the  other.  Mr.  Ephraim 
Nesbitt  was  my  jockey  and  my  neighbor,  and  went 
the  round  trip  with  me  and  was  a  most  excellent  as- 
sistant. I  mention  this  trip  and  circumstance  not  to 
encourage  sporting,  but  on  the  contrary  would  advise 
all  of  my  readers  to  abstain  from  all  manner  of  evil 
and  to  keep  from  forming  any  bad  habits.  It  is  much 
easier  to  contract  bad  habits  than  it  is  to  abandon 
them. 

I  have  great  partiality  for  all  kinds  of  fine  domestic 
animals,  and  have  raised  some  animals  that  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  on  the  turf  as  pacers,  viz. : 
Tom  Hal,  the  sire  of  Snow  Heels;  and  he  sired  the 
famous  brood  mare,  Sweepstakes,  that  was  the  dam  of 
Hal  Pointer,  2.43^  ;  Star  Pointer,  i.59j^  ;  and  eight 
others  that  all  had  good  records.  She  certainly  was 
the  most  famous  brood  mare  for  producing  pacers  on 
the  American  continent. 

I  feel  it  due  to  give  a  brief  history  of  the  sire  and 
grandsire  of  this  famous  old  brood  mare,  which  lived 
to  be  twenty-nine  years  old :  Snow  Heels  was  her 
sire  and  was  bred  and  reared  by  me  in  Rutherford 
County,  Tennessee,  and  he  was  sired  by  my  Tom  Hal, 
he  by  Major  Kitrell's  Tom  Hal,  and  he  by  Tom  Hal, 
of  Kentucky.  My  Tom  Hal  had  four  thoroughbred 
blood  crosses  on  his  dam's  side,  and  looked  more  like 
a  thoroughbred  blood  horse  than  a  saddle  stallion. 
Snow  Heels'  first  dam  was  sired  by  Puckett's  Glencoe, 
and  he  was  sired  by  imported  Glencoe.  Puckett's 
Glencoe's  first  dam  was  the  noted  four-mile  mare, 
Frances  Terral,  by  Bertran,  he  by  Sir  Archie,  and  he 


JACKS,  JENNETS   ANt>  MtJI.ES  39 

by  imported  Diomeed.  So  you  will  perceive  that 
Snow  Heels  and  Tom  Hal's  dams  had  a  great  deal 
of  fine,  thoroughbred  crosses  which  gave  such  speed 
and  endurance  to  their  descendants.  Mr.  Edmond 
Geers  stated  to  me  that  Hal  Pointer  was  the  best 
campaign  horse  that  he  had  ever  pulled  a  line  over. 

The  late  Major  Campbell  Brown  in  writing  me  for 
the  pedigree  of  Snow  Heels  stated  that  his  mares 
were  greatly  sought  after.  Snow  Heels'  second  dam 
was  sired  by  Mr.  Wm.  Thomas'  noted  stock  horse, 
Brown  Solomon,  and  his  pedigree  ran  back  to  the 
old  Sir  Archie  and  Diomeed  crosses.  This  noted  brood 
mare  was  exhibited  at  Shelbyville,  Bedford  County, 
Tennessee,  when  a  sucking  colt  in  a  large  lot  of  colts 
and  was  awarded  the  first  premium.  I  purchased 
her  from  Dr.  Daniel  Johnson  when  a  filly  at  a  large 
price.  He  told  me  that  the  dam  of  this  filly  was  the 
best  saddle  mare  he  ever  saw  or  owned.  The  doctor 
was  an  old  man  and  had  practiced  medicine  for  many 
years  at  Liberty,  in  Rutherford  County.  I  bred  this 
mare  to  my  jack,  Monarch.  She  brought  me  a  mare 
mule  that  I  sold  at  weaning  for  one  hundred  dollars. 
This  was  the  first  and  last  sucking  mule  colt  I  ever 
saw  sold  for  that  price. 

Tom  Hal  and  Snow  Heels  were  both  fine,  com- 
manding saddle  stallions  and  very  popular.  I  owned 
them  when  the  Civil  War  was  going  on  and  the  officers 
of  both  armies  wanted  them.  The  Federal  army  got 
Tom  Hal  three  times  and  we  succeeded  in  getting 
him  back  twice,  but  the  third  time  he  was  taken  I 
never  was  able  to  recover  him.  Was  ofifered  twelve 
hundred  dollars  for  him  before  the  commencement  of 
the  war. 


40  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

I  sold  half  interest  in  Snow  Heels  to  my  brother, 
General  J.  M.  Knight,  and  he  was  taken  by  the  Con- 
federate soldiers  and  was  carried  to  Canton,  Miss., 
where  my  brother  got  him  and  brought  him  back  to 
Marshall  County,  Tennessee.  There  is  quite  a  history 
connected  with  those  two  saddle  stallions  and  their 
descendants.  Sweepstakes  as  a  breeder  of  pacing 
horses  sired  by  Snow  Heels  has  never  been  equaled 
in  America.  Her  dam,  I  think,  was  sired  by  Mc- 
Minn's  Traveler,  another  well  bred  saddle  stallion  with 
good  thoroughbred  blood  crosses.  You  will  perceive 
that  the  crosses  of  the  thoroughbred  blood  stock  are 
essentially  necessary  to  give  bottom  or  stamina  to  the 
pacer,  trotter  or  running  horse. 

But  with  all  that  is  so  fascinating  and  alluring 
about  the  fine  speed  horses  in  every  line  I  want  my 
friends  to  understand  that  I  do  not  advise  them  to 
get  in  that  line  of  business.  In  my  younger  days  I 
was  associated  with  race  horses  and  was  very  fond 
of  seeing  them  run.  My  father  was  engaged  in  breed- 
ing fine  stock  and  he  gave  me  an  interest  in  a  fine 
colt  that  was  sired  by  Thornton's  Old  Ratler,  by  Sir 
Archer,  by  imported  Diomeed.  I  rubbed  this  colt 
and  imagined  that  we  had  in  him  a  world  beater. 
Jeffrey  Beck  was  our  trainer.  He  was  an  uncle  of 
General  Bedford  Forrest,  and  esteemed  as  a  trainer  of 
horses  in  his  day,  that  is,  about  1837.  While  we 
were  campaigning  with  our  horses  I  witnessed  so 
much  gambling  with  cards  and  heard  so  much  pro- 
fane language,  that  I  had  such  a  disgust  for  cards 
that  I  did  not  want  to  learn  anything  about  them. 
Now  in  my  eighty-sixth  year  of  age  could  not  tell  the 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MULES  4I 

name  of  each  card.  So  you  may  know  what  I  think 
of  them! 

I  have  made  quite  a  digression  from  my  trip  to 
IlHnois.  I  think  I  left  off  at  a  fair  ground  where  I 
put  Brown  Pilott  in  a  race.  It  has  been  about  thirty- 
six  years  since  and  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of  the 
place.  We  won  the  race  and  made  some  sales  and 
went  to  a  place  called  Salem.  There  I  found  a  farmer 
that  offered  me  ten  two-year-old  mules  for  a  four- 
year-old  jack  I  had  raised,  fifteen  hands  high,  and 
was  one  of  the  best  that  I  had  in  my  drove  when  I 
started  from  home  with  twenty-five  head  of  jacks  and 
the  same  number  of  jennets.  I  had  bred  a  number 
of  my  jennets  to  this  jack  (Harry  of  the  West).  I 
did  not  want  to  dispose  of  him  until  I  had  sold  my 
jennets,  for  I  wanted  those  who  would  buy  the  jennets 
to  know  what  a  fine  jack  they  had  been  bred  to.  I 
made  a  trade  with  the  farmer  at  Salem  with  this 
proviso:  That  if,  when  I  had  disposed  of  all  of  my 
jennets,  I  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  selling  him 
for  money,  or  swapping  him  for  better  matured  stock, 
I  would  make  the  trade  with  the  first  offer  of  ten 
two-year-old  mules. 

We  then  traveled  west  and  located  in  Bond  County, 
Illinois,  where  we  pretty  well  closed  out  all  of  our 
jennets;  had  sold  and  bartered  until  we  were  about 
ready  to  start  home.  We  sold  to  a  firm  in  Mulberry 
Grove  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  jacks  and  jen- 
nets. We  left  the  grove  for  Vandalia  and  stopped 
to  lay  in  our  supplies  to  last  us  home,  and  while  there 
saw  two  gentlemen  who  wanted  our  jack,  Harry  of 
the  West.  They  stated  they  had  one  hundred  and 
fifty  mules  and  would  give  me  nine  three-year-olds 


43  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

as  good  as  a  three-year-old  iron-gray  mare  mule  I  had 
bartered  for,  and  she  should  be  the  sample.  She  was 
fifteen  hands  high  and  smooth.  Thinking  I  could  sell 
nine  three-year-olds  for  more  than  I  could  ten  two- 
year-olds,  I  agreed  to  go  and  see  the  mules.  We  had 
to  travel  nine  miles  obliquely  from  our  main  route 
home.  We  took  the  jack  and  the  sample  mule  and 
spent  the  night.  We  had  no  special  trouble  in  agree- 
ing about  the  selection  of  the  mules.  The  company 
that  wanted  my  jack,  wished  to  exhibit  him  at  the 
state  fair  in  Illinois.  The  party  assisted  me  in  getting 
the  stock  to  my  camp. 

We  then  went  the  direct  route  to  Hopkinsville,  Ky. 
Here  we  sold  out  our  surplus  stock  to  the  party  who 
had  bought  Beauregard,  as  we  were  going  to  Illinois. 
In  bartering  the  jack,  Harry  of  the  West,  we  got 
about  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  him.  I  now 
desire  to  refer  very  kindly  to  my  venerable  friend, 
the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Woolard,  of  Mulberry  Grove,  Bond 
County,  Illinois.  He  was  originally  from  Maury 
County,  Tennessee,  and  had  settled  in  Illinois  at  an 
early  date.  He  rendered  me  valuable  service  while 
there. 

I  was  nine  weeks  making  this  trip,  and  bartered 
and  sold  together  about  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
jacks  and  jennets  that  I  could  not  have  sold  at  home 
for  one  thousand  dollars  cash,  owing  to  the  ravages 
of  war.  I  had  left  on  my  farm  quite  a  number  of 
jacks  and  jennets  for  which  there  was  no  demand 
in  my  section  of  country,  consequently  after  having 
made  that  long  and  tedious  journey  to  Illinois,  I  had 
necessarily  to  hunt  other  localities  that  had  not  suf- 
fered so  much  from  the  destruction  of  the  armies. 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  43 

I  made  several  other  trips  into  different  states — 
Alabama,  Georgia,  East  Tennessee,  West  Tennessee, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas.  I  traded  in 
Texas  before  any  railroad  depot  was  established  at 
Fort  Worth.  When  trading  in  any  adjoining  states, 
I  usually  had  a  light  two-horse  wagon  and  a  tent, 
and  bought  our  feed  by  the  wholesale  for  our  stock, 
and  when  the  weather  was  favorable,  we  camped  out, 
and  avoided  heavy  hotel  and  stable  bills. 

I  made  it  a  point  when  I  found  a  man  that  wanted 
any  of  my  stock,  and  could  not  pay  me  all  cash,  to 
barter  with  him,  he  to  pay  me  some  money,  and  I  would 
take  young  mules,  good  fillies,  young  cattle,  or  take 
cotton  in  the  bale,  or  anything  that  I  could  soon  con- 
vert into  money.  Have  traded  for  fat  hogs  and  shipped 
them  home  on  the  cars.  The  cotton  I  could  place 
in  the  hands  of  a  merchant  at  nearest  depot,  and  let 
him  sell  it  for  me.  After  disposing  of  my  jacks  I 
would  concentrate  the  cattle,  fillies  and  mules,  and 
ship  on  the  cars,  provided  the  distance  was  too  great 
to  drive  through  by  land  to  my  home.  I  want  to 
state  right  here,  that  cattle  shipped  from  the  Southern 
states,  north  several  degrees,  appear  to  do  well  them- 
selves, but  the  native  cattle  that  graze  on  the  same 
pasture  with  the  Southern  cattle  frequently  die  of  a 
disease  similar  to  murrain.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
matured  cattle  are  shipped  from  Tennessee,  several 
degrees  south,  they  are  apt  to  die  soon.  It  is  much 
safer  to  select  calves  to  ship  to  a  southern  climate,  to 
avoid  cattle  fever,  and  the  best  season  to  ship  is  late 
in  the  fall,  when  the  weather  becomes  cool.  I  have 
had  a  good  deal  of  experience  in  this  line  of  business. 
I  remember  when  trading  in  Arkansas,  camping  out 


44  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

in  the  canebrake  section,  and  preparing  our  meals  at 
night,  the  broiling  of  our  meat  would  attract  the 
wolves,  and  we  could  hear  them  howl.  At  that  date, 
deer,  bear,  turkeys,  and  all  kinds  of  wild  game  were 
plentiful,  and  are  yet  in  some  places. 

While  traveling  through  the  rich  bottom  lands  of 
Arkansas  we  saw  great  •  quantities  of  mast,  such  as 
pecans,  acorns  of  different  kinds,  switch  cane,  that 
would  keep  stock  in  good  order  through  the  winter 
and  spring  seasons.  An  old  native  living  in  the  neigh- 
borhood came  to  our  camp  and  was  regretting  his  mis- 
fortunes, saying  he  had  lost  a  great  deal  of  money 
while  living  there.  I  asked  him  how  it  occurred.  He 
said  it  was  because  he  did  not  have  money  to  buy 
hogs  to  eat  the  mast  that  rotted  in  the  swamps.  I 
have  seen  pretty  good  pork  taken  to  St.  Louis,  that 
had  been  fattened  on  mast. 

While  trading  in  Arkansas  I  met  with  a  Kentuckian 
who  had  a  herd  of  improved  Durham  cattle  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  head,  and  proposed  giving  me  fifty 
head  of  cows  that  would  be  fresh  to  give  milk  the 
following  spring,  for  a  young  stallion  and  a  large 
sixteen-hand  jack  I  had,  and  agreed  to  keep  the  cattle 
on  the  switch  cane  until  April  or  May  following.  His 
rancho  was  on  White  river  at  a  place  called  Peach 
Orchard  Bluff.  There  were  about  one  hundred  acres 
not  subject  to  overflow.  When  I  went  after  the  cattle 
there  had  been  a  considerable  freshet,  and  we  had  to 
take  a  canoe  and  go  through  the  woods  nine  miles  to 
reach  the  cattle.  We  built  a  lot  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  collected  and  assorted  the  cattle.  We  had  to 
lariat  mine,  and  draw  them  on  the  steamboat  by  a 
windlass,   which   was   no   small   undertakmg.     They 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND   MULES  45 

were  taken  to  Williamsport  on  White  river,  and  there 
put  on  the  cars,  shipped  to  St.  Louis  and  sold.  I  will 
state  here,  that  while  in  the  bottom  lands  in  Arkansas 
I  saw  in  the  fork  of  a  cypress  tree  an  eagle's  nest, 
the  first  and  last  I  have  ever  seen.  When  I  traded 
for  the  cattle,  I  expected  to  take  them  to  New  Orleans 
or  Memphis,  but  learned  that  an  ordinance  had  been 
passed  in  both  of  those  cities  forbidding  cattle  to  run 
on  the  streets,  because  they  were  expecting  an  epi- 
demic of  cholera,  consequently  had  to  go  to  St.  Louis 
and  closed  out.  I  made  this  trip  alone,  and  would  not 
be  willing  to  make  a  similar  one,  with  plenty  of  good 
help,  at  my  advanced  age. 

I  will  not  tax  my  readers  with  an  account  of  my 
trips  in  Texas,  Missouri,  Kansas  and  other  states. 
Before  closing  this  part  of  my  book  let  me  advise  that 
when  the  country  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  as  a 
general  rule,  the  stock  farmer  had  better  keep  good 
stock,  keep  them  in  fine,  saleable  order,  stay  at  home, 
and  advertise  well,  and  he  will  generally  meet  with 
success  in  selling  his  stock. 

I  hope  my  friends  will  pardon  me  for  a  little  egotism 
in  stating  that  I  put  up  the  first  sale  stable  in  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  to  sell  jacks  and  jennets.  I  have  sold 
them  in  fourteen  different  states,  and  some  that  were 
carried  out  of  the  Uinted  States,  and  have  frequently 
sold  jacks  at  different  times  to  the  same  customers, 
but  up  to  date  have  never  had  a  lawsuit  or  litigation 
with  one  of  my  customers.  He  would  take  the  jack 
home,  and  do  business  with  him,  perhaps  two  or  three 
seasons,  and  get  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
animal,  and  his  services,  and  sell  him  for  a  good  profit, 
and  come  back,  and  buy  another  one  or  two.  I  have 
sold  several  in  that  way. 


46  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

Before  leaving  this  part  of  my  book,  I  wish  to  refer 
my  readers  to  the  Hfe  of  Judge  J.  D.  Goodpasture  as 
written  and  published  by  his  sons,  A.  V.  and  W.  H. 
Goodpasture,  containing  also  sketches  of  their  visits 
to  Europe  in  search  of  stock,  especially  the  jack  and 
jennet  stock,  which  they  imported  eight  different  times 
to  this  market,  Nashville,  Tenn.  This  book  will  be 
found  very  interesting  to  all  parties  engaged  in  stock 
raising  and  selling,  as  there  is  a  great  deal  of  infor- 
mation to  be  had  from  reading  it.  Messrs.  A.  V.  and 
W.  H.  Goodpasture  have  a  large  book  store  on  Church 
Street,  Nashville,  where  this  book  can  be  found.  I 
will  also  state  that  Judge  Goodpasture  and  son  had  a 
sale  stable  of  jacks  and  jennets  very  near  mine  for 
several  years ;  when  they  had  a  customer  to  whom  they 
did  not  sell,  they  would  either  bring  or  send  him  to 
my  stable  to  see  my  stock,  and  we  did  the  same  by 
them,  which  made  everything  between  us  work  very 
pleasantly  and  harmoniously,  although  in  the  same  line 
of  business. 

THE  MULE. 

I  have  been  for  some  time  writing  about  the  jacks 
and  jennets,  of  the  different  species  of  them  that  have 
been  imported  from  Europe,  especially  those  that  have 
been  brought  from  Spain,  France  and  Italy.  I  think 
that  from  the  year  1885  to  1893  Tennessee  imported 
from  those  three  above  named  countries  and  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Durmg  those  eight 
years  about  eight  hundred  to  one  thousand  jacks  and 
jennets  were  landed  in  and  around  Nashville.  I  think 
it  can  be  truthfully  stated  that  Tennessee  imported 
more  jacks  and  jennets  than  all  the  other  states  in  the 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND   MULES  47 

United  States  put  together  in  the  eight  years.  Hence, 
we  have  had  the  pick  of  the  best  stock  of  Europe  to 
select  our  jacks  and  jennets  and  from  them  we  ought 
to  rear  the  finest  class  of  mules  out  of  our  fine  brood 
mares.  Tennessee  ought  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the 
list  with  her  advantages  now  if  she  will  only  do  her 
duty  in  breeding  to  the  best  jacks  and  jennets  and 
best  class  of  brood  mares. 

The  mule  is  a  hybrid,  the  product  of  a  jack  and 
a  mare.  The  hinny  is  also  a  mongrel,  the  produce 
of  a  stallion  and  jennet.  The  latter  is  seldom  seen 
in  our  country,  but  resembles  the  mule  very  much. 
It  is  claimed  that  they  partake  more  of  the  nature  of 
the  horse  in  form  and  disposition  than  the  jennet. 
They  have  a  neater  head  and  heavier  mane  and  tail 
than  a  mule,  and  a  larger  foot,  but  it  is  thought  that 
they  have  not  the  endurance  of  a  mule.  I  do  not 
remember  ever  seeing  but  two  hinnies ;  one  of  them 
I  saw  in  Texas  on  the  Brazos  river,  the  other  was  in 
Bedford  County,  Tennessee.  The  hinny  is  said  to 
make  a  noise  more  like  a  horse,  while  the  mule  brays 
more  like  a  jack.  I  think  one  reason  that  we  have  so 
few  hinnies  in  our  country  is,  that  stallions  have  an 
aversion  to  jennets,  and  will  not  serve  them  unless 
they  have  been  reared  with  jennets,  as  jack  colts  are 
reared  with  filly  colts,  when  they  are  first  weaned. 

I  have  tried  to  impress  upon  jack  breeders  the  great 
importance  of  taking  their  jack  colts  away  from  their 
own  species  and  put  them  with  filly  colts  as  soon  as 
they  are  weaned  and  let  them  continue  to  remain  with 
them  until  the  jack  colt  becomes  too  rough  for  the 
fillies.  By  this  time  the  jack  colt  becomes  attached 
to  the  filly  and  then  you  will  not  have  trouble  to 


4$  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

break  him  to  business  at  a  proper  time.  I  will  also 
repeat  what  I  have  written  when  speaking  of  training 
jacks,  that  they  should  be  away  from  mules  as  well 
as  jennets.  Some  jacks  are  partial  to  mules  and  I 
have  known  mare  mules  used  to  get  jacks  ready  to 
serve  mares. 

At  an  early  day  mules  were  used  for  riding.  In 
the  patriarchal  ages  the  ass,  ox  and  camel  were  the 
principal  beasts  of  burden,  but  in  our  day  we  use  the 
horse,  ox  and  mule,  the  latter  especially  for  the  South 
and  tropical  climate.  Since  the  Spanish-American 
War  there  has  been  so  much  tropical  territory  added 
to  the  United  States,  that  the  demand  for  mules  has 
increased  and  will  continue  to  increase  until  those 
tropical  islands  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  are 
suppHed  with  mules.  Of  all  the  beasts  of  burden  and 
for  agricultural  purposes,  especially  for  the  South, 
there  are  none  equal  to  the  long-lived  and  hardy  mule. 
He  lives  much  longer  than  the  horse,  perhaps  more 
than  twice  as  long,  and  is  not  so  subject  to  disease. 
He  consumes  much  less  food,  pulls  under  a  cold  collar 
and  is  not  so  liable  to  balk.  His  hoof  is  more  deeply 
cupped  and  is  tougher,  consequently  he  will  hold  a 
shoe  much  longer  than  a  horse.  He  is  considered 
more  sure-footed  than  a  horse,  and  I  have  known 
physicians  who  preferred  riding  a  mule  to  using  a 
horse. 

Will  give  you  a  description  of  the  different  classes 
of  mules  by  Messrs.  Shryer  &  McConnell,  of  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  who  are  perhaps  the  largest  mule  dealers 
in  Tennessee,  and  are  reliable  business  men. 

The  sugar  mules  run  in  age  from  three  to  five  years 
old  and  from  fifteen  and  a  half  to  sixteen  and  one- 


JACKS,   JKNNETS    AND    MUI.ES  49 

fourth  hands  high;  they  are  fed  from  the  time  they 
are  colts  until  they  are  shipped  to  Louisiana. 

The  mine  mules  are  from  fifteen  to  sixteen  hands 
high,  from  five  to  ten  years  old,  and  must  have  bone 
and  good  foot  and  good  body. 

The  dray  mules  are  from  five  to  eight  years  old, 
fifteen  and  three-fourths  to  sixteen  and  one-half  hands 
high,  from  1,200  to  1,400  pounds. 

The  cotton  mules  are  from  three  to  five  years  old, 
thirteen  and  three-fourths  to  fifteen  and  one-fourth 
hands. 

The  mules  sold  to  the  British  government  must  be 
from  five  to  twelve  years  old,  but  must  be  sound  and 
free  from  blemishes. 

Mules  from  fifteen  and  one-half  to  sixteen  and  one- 
fourth  hands  high  sell  better  in  spring,  summer  and 
fall  for  work  in  Tennessee. 

The  dealers  begin  to  buy  cotton  mules  in  the  fall 
and  fatten  them  for  the  Southern  market,  which  com- 
mences in  October  and  continues  until  March. 

There  are  several  advantages  in  handling  mules 
over  horses.  You  can  sell  them  readily  at  any  age. 
They  sell  at  weaning,  one  year  old,  or  at  two,  three 
or  four,  or  at  any  age  you  have  him  in  market  order 
you  can  get  his  cash  value.  You  do  not  have  to  curry 
and  rub  and  educate  to  the  different  saddle  gaits  and 
break  him  to  harness  before  he  is  ready  for  market. 
You  can  often  sell  them  in  carload  lots  instead  of 
selling  by  retail,  and  by  so  doing  you  get  your  money 
in  a  bulk  and  can  invest  it  to  much  better  advantage. 


50  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 


REMINISCENCES   OF  JACKS   AND 
JACK   BREEDERS. 

At  a  called  meeting  of  the  American  Breeders'  As- 
sociation of  Jacks  and  Jennets,  held  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  June  25,  1890,  the  executive  committee  ap- 
pointed me  to  write  an  essay  or  history  of  our  old 
original  jack  stock  and  pioneer  breeders  of  the  United 
States.  In  undertaking  this  somewhat  difficult  task 
we  have  to  be  governed  in  a  great  measure  by  memory, 
as  we  have  but  little  literature  on  the  subject  of  jacks. 
History  informs  us  that  soon  after  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  the  king  of  Spain  presented  to 
General  George  Washington  a  Spanish  jack  and  jen- 
net. General  Lafayette,  after  his  return  to  France, 
also  presented  him  with  a  fine  jack,  which  was  bred 
to  the  Spanish  jennet,  and  produced  the  famous  jack. 
Compound,  which  sired  some  mules  that  were  sold 
after  the  General's  death  for  upwards  of  two  hundred 
dollars  each.  This  gave  rise  to  considerable  interest 
in  the  breeding  of  mules,  not  only  in  Virginia,  but 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  other  states  soon  fell  into 
the  same  line. 

Perhaps  the  credit  is  due  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  of 
Kentucky,  for  introducing  the  fine  Spanish  jacks  into 
that  state.  If  our  memory  serves  us  correctly,  he 
introduced  the  noted  imported  jacks,  Don  Carlos, 
Ulysses,  Black  Hawk,  etc.  These  fine  imported  jacks 
soon   made  the  blue  grass   region   famous   for  their 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  51 

superior  mules,  sired  by  these  imported  jacks  and 
out  of  finely  bred  mares.  Mules  were  one  of  the  great 
staples  of  Kentucky  before  the  war. 

Messrs.  Aquilla  Young  and  Everette,  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, Ky.,  owned  Mammoth  (imported).  He  was 
considered  the  largest  jack  that  had  ever  been  im* 
ported  into  the  United  States  up  to  that  time.  They 
were  able  to  stand  him  alone  for  jennets  at  $100  per 
jennet. 

Mammoth  made  nine  seasons  before  he  died,  and 
his  owners  realized  a  handsome  income  from  his 
services  by  buying  his  jack  colts  and  growing  them 
until  they  were  two  and  three  years  old.  Many  of 
his  jack  colts  sold  readily  for  $500  before  weaning. 
Perhaps  no  jack  that  was  ever  introduced  into  the 
United  States  improved  the  jack  and  jennet  stock  in 
bone  and  size  equal  to  him.  He  was  about  sixteen 
hands  high,  standard  measure,  and  heavy  like  a  horse. 

The  late  Mr.  Miller,  of  Millersburg,  Ky.,  owned 
some  fine  jacks. 

In  1856  Lear  Brothers  owned  the  large  jack,  Buena 
Vista,  by  Mammoth   (imported). 

The  late  Major  Knox,  of  Danville,  Ky.,  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  foremost  breeders  of  jacks  and 
jennets  before  the  war.  He  made  quite  a  success  in 
rearing  this  stock,  and  captured  more  premiums  with 
his  jacks  and  jennets  than  any  breeder  in  the  state. 

Major  Tarkington  (the  son-in-law  of  Major  Knox) 
is  occupying  the  old,  noted  stock  farm,  and  is  rearing 
some  of  the  best  stock  in  the  same  line.  He  has  re- 
cently purchased  the  noted  jack.  Paragon  (imported), 
of  Dr.  Curd  and  Wm.  and  R.  Davis,  all  of  Lebanon, 
Tenn.,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000,  and  is  using  him  for  jennets 


52  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

exclusively.  The  major  has,  perhaps,  the  finest  jennet 
in  the  state,  sired  by  Abran  (imported).  She  is 
fifteen  and  one-half  hands  high,  very  heavy  and 
stylish ;  is  a  successful  breeder  and  a  fine  show  animal. 
She  is  registered. 

Messrs.  W.  L.  Caldwell  &  Son,  of  Danville,  Ky., 
are  spirited  breeders.  They  are  the  owners  of  Giant 
32,  who  took  the  first  premium  at  the  State  Fair  at 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Mr.  Hubble,  of  Danville,  Ky.,  reared  some  most 
excellent  jacks  and  jennets.  He  bred  Brignoli  and 
Luke  Blackburn,  that  were  recently  sold  at  his  dis- 
persion sale  at  fabulous  prices. 

The  earliest  pioneer  breeder  in  Tennessee,  as  nearly 
as  we  can  learn,  was  Colonel  James  Ridley,  of  David- 
son County.  He  visited  Virginia  about  1820  and  pur- 
chased a  jack  called  Compromise.  He  was  the  sire  of 
Colonel  Ridley's  Old  Wonder,  that  was  considered  the 
largest  and  best  jack  of  his  day  in  Tennessee.  He 
was  to  Tennessee  what  Mammoth  was  to  Kentucky 
as  a  pioneer  breeder. 

The  late  Jonathan  Curran,  of  Murfreesboro,  Tenn., 
was  a  breeder  of  jacks  and  jennets  about  the  year 
1830. 

In  1835  or  1836  my  father,  the  late  Captain  James 
Knight,  visited  Virginia  and  purchased  a  very  fine 
black  jack,  with  white  points,  called  John  Bull.  He 
did  business  in  Rutherford  County,  Tennessee,  and 
gave  satisfaction  as  a  popular  breeder.  He  was  said 
to  be  the  third  descendant  from  the  Royal  Gift  of 
General  Washington.  My  father  also  owned  a  jack 
in  North  Carolina  about  the  year  1820.  I  have  an 
imperfect  recollection  of  this  jack,  as  I  was  only  four 
or  five  years  old. 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MUI^KS  53 

General  A.  Wilson,  my  father  and  my  brother,  Gen- 
eral J.  M.  Knight,  purchased  in  Kentucky  the  cele- 
brated premium  jennet  jack,  Maringo  Mammoth.  He 
did  business  for  a  number  of  years  in  Marshall  Coun- 
ty, Tennessee,  after  which  I  purchased  him  as  a  nine- 
year-old,  and  at  a  cost  of  $2,160,  and  used  him  ex- 
clusively for  jennets  at  $40  per  jennet.  The  jack 
was  about  sixteen  hands  high,  standard,  with  unusual 
weight  and  substance.  We  regarded  him  as  the 
largest  and  best  adapted  to  improve  the  small-boned 
jack  stock  that  was  ever  introduced  into  Tennessee. 
He  was  the  recipient  of  every  premium  for  which  he 
contended  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  of  his  own  age, 
and  captured  every  premium  contended  for  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  was  shown  at  all  the  important  fairs  in 
the  middle  division.  He  was  black,  with  white  points, 
was  sired  by  Maringo  Mammoth,  of  Kentucky,  and  he 
by  Mammoth  (imported).  A  number  of  his  jennets 
sold  for  $500  before  the  war. 

I  also  owned  the  celebrated  premium  jack,  Ben 
Franklin,  he  being  a  purely  bred  Spanish  jack.  He 
proved  to  be  a  most  excellent  breeder,  both  for  mares 
and  jennets.  He  was  the  recipient  of  more  premiums 
than  any  jack  of  his  day.  I  exhibited  him  at  a  great 
many  fairs  in  Middle  Tennessee,  at  Chattanooga,  and 
at  two  state  fairs  in  Georgia — one  at  Macon  in  1873, 
and  at  Atlanta  in  1874.  He  was  also  exhibited  in 
Illinois'.     In  all  of  these  places  he  met  with  success. 

I  think  one  of  the  first  imported  jacks  ever  brought 
to  Tennessee  was  taken  to  Maury  County,  and  was 
owned  by  a  Mr.  Thomas.  He  was  afterwards  sold  to 
General  Gideon  J.  Pillow  and  brother.  This  was 
Knight  Errant  (imported).     I  think  he  was  imported 


54  BREEDING   AND    REARING  OF 

about  1840.  He  proved  quite  an  accession  to  Maury 
and  adjoining  counties. 

Dr.  Boyd  also  owned  a  fine  jack,  called  Philip — I 
think  by  Mammoth. 

The  late  Benjamin  Harlan  also  owned  a  fine  jack, 
called  Harlan's  Mammoth.  He  made  considerable 
reputation. 

The  late  J.  J.  Williamson,  of  Marshall  County, 
Tennessee,  was  an  early  and  successful  breeder  of 
jacks  and  jennets.  He  paid  $500  at  a  very  early  day 
for  a  jennet  called  Matilda.  She  was  sired  by  Maringo 
Mammoth,  and  was  the  dam  of  several  remarkably 
fine  jennet  jacks,  among  others  being  Black  Prince, 
sire  of  J.  D.  Reed's  Longfellow,  for  which  he  paid 
$2,250.  Longfellow  was  a  fine  breeder  and  a  success- 
ful premium  winner.  His  dam  was  also  by  Maringo 
Mammoth. 

The  late  Thos.  Dean,  of  Bedford  County,  Tennessee, 
was  perhaps  the  earliest  breeder  of  that  county.  He 
owned  the  distinguished  jack,  Black-and-All-Black, 
which  sired  Goliath,  owned  by  Rev.  T.  B.  Marks,  and 
was  sold  to  a  company  in  Alabama  for  $1,600.  This 
was  regarded  as  a  large  price  in  that  day  for  a  native 
jack.  Rev.  T.  B.  Marks  is  and  has  been  regarded  as 
one  of  the  very  best  stock  breeders  in  Middle  Ten- 
nessee. 

Messrs.  Steel  &  Bro.,  Esquire  Williams,  Dr.  Thomas 
Lipscomb,  Samuel  Wood,  J.  D.  Hutton,  Cotner,  and 
others,  of  Bedford  County,  were  all  interprising  jack 
and  jennet  breeders. 

Messrs.  Goodrum,  Chairs  &  Bellanfant  owned  the 
jennet  jack,  Lord  of  the  Isle.  He  was  very  large,  and 
was  sired  by  Knight  Errant   (imported). 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MULES  55 

The  late  Pleasant  Akin,  of  Maury  County,  owned 
some  very  superior  jacks,  among  others  King  PhiHp, 
that  took  the  $500  premium  at  the  State  Fair  at  Nash- 
ville. In  this  exhibition  he  contended  against  some 
of  the  best  jacks  in  the  state,  among  others  the  noted 
Barcelona  (imported),  then  owned  by  C.  Oldham, 
Major  Sam  and  Colonel  J.  R.  Davis,  of  Wilson 
County,  Tennessee.  There  was  difficulty  in  determin- 
ing this  premium.  The  contention  was  between  King 
Philip  and  Barcelona  (imported).  Several  extra 
judges  were  called  in  before  the  decision  was  made. 
They  finally  resorted  to  the  tape  line  and  measured 
the  jacks  carefully,  the  native  jack,  King  Philip,  being 
at  last  awarded  the  premium. 

The  late  William  Younger,  of  Santa  Fe,  Maury 
County,  was  a  pioneer  and  successful  breeder,  as  was 
also  the  late  M.  H.  Mays,  of  the  same  county,  and 
who  owned  the  following  imported  jacks,  that  were 
used  exclusively  for  jennets,  viz. :  Moro  Castle,  pur- 
chased in  Kentucky  from  the  late  Anthony  Kilgore  at 
a  fabulous  price ;  Napoleon  the  Third,  an  exceptionally 
fine  looking  animal,  and  considered  one  of  the  finest 
show  jacks  in  the  state.  Mr.  Mays  stood  each  of  these 
jacks  at  $50,  perhaps  the  highest  figure  that  any  jack 
had  ever  commanded  up  to  that  date,  this  being  about 
1858.  He  also  owned  the  two  imported  jacks.  Mid- 
night and  Starlight.  These  were  very  fine  jacks,  and 
were  imported  by  the  late  A.  C.  Franklin  and  Major 
Tul.  Craig.  Mr.  Mays  also  owned  the  native  jack, 
Mohawk,  by  Mammoth  (imported).  All  the  above 
jacks  made  their  mark  in  Tennessee. 

The  late  Wyatt  Lane,  of  Coffee  County,  introduced 
into  his  section  some  good  Maringo  Mammoth  jacks 


56  BRKKDING  AND    REARING   OF 

before  the  war  that  improved  the  stock  of  that  county 
gfreatly. 

Major  AUman,  Colonel  McClellan  and  others,  of 
Marshall  County,  purchased  the  fine  jennet  jack 
Bourbon  from  parties  in  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky. 
He  was  a  Mammoth-bred  jack,  and  proved  to  be  a 
superior  breeder. 

The  late  Dr.  Hocket,  Dan  Young,  Mark  Cockrill, 
Sr.,  Colonel  John  Overton,  Dr.  Shelby,  Colonel  D.  H. 
McGavock,  J.  McRidley  and  Robert  Rains,  all  of 
Davidson  County,  were  jack  breeders.  Colonel  Rains 
owned  Black  Prince  (imported),  used  him  awhile 
as  a  jennet  jack  and  sold  him  to  Colonel  Blythe,  of 
Wilson  County.  He  purchased  Black  Mammoth  of 
Major  Knox,  Danville,  Ky.,  just  before  the  war,  pay- 
ing $2,500  for  him  as  a  three-year-old.  He  was  sired 
by  Maringo  Mammoth,  of  Kentucky.  He  proved 
to  be  a  superior  jennet  jack.  He  sired  Black  Prince 
of  Fair  View.  This  jack  was  reared  by  Colonel  R. 
Rains,  and  was  sold  to  Dr.  W.  A.  Cheatham  at  an 
early  age  for  $1,000.  This  jack  was  a  premium  win- 
ner in  both  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  I  used  him  as 
a  jennet  jack  (soon  after  the  war),  and  regarded  him 
as  one  of  the  best  of  his  day. 

I  purchased  the  renowned  sweepstakes  premium 
jennet  jack.  Black  Satin,  of  Sampson  Liggett,  of  Mar- 
shall County,  Tennessee.  He  was  sired  by  Dr.  Boyd's 
Philip,  a  jack  fifteen  hands,  standard,  and  a  silky 
black  with  light  points.  He  captured  a  great  many 
sweepstake  premiums  in  Middle  Tennessee.  I  used 
him  as  a  jennet  jack.  He  sired  a  great  many  fine 
jacks;  among  others  was  J.  J.  Williams'  Black  Prince, 
afterwards  sold  to  Sam  Wood.     He  was  the  sire  of 


JACKS,   JENNKTS   AND   MUI^ES  57 

J.  D.  Reed's  Longfellow,  and  others.  It  was  said  the 
dam  of  Black  Satin  was  the  dam  of  $10,000  worth 
of  jacks. 

If  time  and  space  would  allow,  I  could  mention 
quite  a  number  of  jennets  that  were  the  dams  of 
several  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  jacks.  I  will  men- 
tion anyway  two  that  were  owned  by  my  father  and 
brother  before  the  war.  They  sold  from  one  jennet, 
called  Jenny  Harlan,  $4,000  worth.  She  was  sired 
by  Benjamin  Harlan's  Mammoth.  The  other  jennet 
was  sired  by  M.  H.  Mays'  Mohawk.  From  this 
jennet  was  sold  $6,000  worth.  They  were  both  good 
and  regular  breeders  at  my  father's  death,  and  I  did 
not  keep  up  with  their  subsequent  breeding. 

I  have  mentioned  these  examples  that  they  may 
stimulate  and  encourage  the  young  jack  and  jennet 
breeders  of  our  country.  If  they  will  select  good, 
well-bred  jennets,  breed  with  proper  discretion,  and 
give  vigilant  attention  to  their  rearing,  I  do  not  know 
of  any  kind  of  stock  farming  that  will  excel  it  finan- 
cially. 

In  about  1868  I  purchased  an  imported  Maltese 
jack  called  Malta.  He  was  bred  and  reared  on  the 
Island  of  Malta,  was  landed  at  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  brought  to  Cartersville,  Ga.,  where  I  purchased 
him.  He,  though  rather  small,  made  a  good  cross  on 
my  large  Mammoth  jennets.  While  the  Maltese  jacks 
are  generally  undersized,  they  are  remarkable  for  their 
vitality  and  longevity. 

General  J.  M.  Knight,  of  Caney  Springs,  Marshall 
County,  Tenn.,  did  a  jennet  business  with  a  jack  called 
Prince  Napoleon  that  was  imported  by  General  Edney, 
of  North  Carolina,  while  consul  to  Spain  under  Presi- 


58  BREEDING    AND    REARING   OF 

dent  Polk's  administration.  He  was  a  very  high- 
styled  jack,  but  was  rather  light  of  bone  and  body. 

I  think  I  have  given  a  general,  though  imperfect, 
history  of  the  jack  stock  from  soon  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  down  to  the  late  Civil  War.  Now  it  is 
my  purpose  to  give  a  history  of  all  the  importations 
since  that  war.  The  first  importation  was  made  by 
the  late  A.  C.  Franklin  and  Major  Tul.  Craig,  of  Sum- 
ner County,  Tennessee,  in  about  1867  or  1868.  They 
brought  over  a  very  handsome  lot  of  Catalonian  jacks. 
Among  some  of  the  most  noted  were  Rifle  and  Laber- 
dale.  They  were  taken  to  West  Tennessee  and  greatly 
improved  the  jack  stock  of  that  section.  Midnight 
and  Starlight  were  sold  to  M.  H.  Mays,  of  Maury 
County.     They  were  individually  good  ones. 

The  jack  Mr.  Franklin  reserved  from  the  importa- 
tion for  his  own  breeding  was  Black  Forrest.  He 
proved  to  be  a  very  popular  breeder.  Among  the 
many  fine  jacks  that  he  sired  was  Ben  Franklin,  of 
which  I  have  already  given  an  account. 

Mr.  Lyle,  of  Kentucky,  about  the  year  1882  im- 
ported Andalusians  from  about  Seville.  One  of  his 
most  noted  animals,  Abran,  sold  to  W.  L.  Caldwell, 
of  Danville,  Ky.,  sired  Major  George  Tarkington's 
premium  jennet,  that  is  about  fifteen  and  one-half 
hands  high,  Abran  being  only  about  fourteen  hands. 

Messrs.  Leonard  Bros.,  of  Mt.  Leonard,  Mo.  (Hon- 
orable Chas.  E.  was  a  member  of  the  firm),  imported 
in  1882  a  lot  of  Andalusians,  purchased  in  and  around 
Cordova  and  Seville.  Some  of  these  jacks  were  large, 
over  fifteen  hands  high.  A  jennet  by  one  of  them,  at 
the  dispersion  sale  of  our  late  lamented  treasurer, 
Major  Gentry,  sold  for  $750.     Other  jennets,  at  the 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MUI.ES  59 

same  sale  and  by  these  jacks,  also  brought  good 
prices. 

Mr.  Graham,  of  Kentucky,  about  the  year  1883 
or  1884,  brought  over  some  Andalusians.  We  know 
but  little  or  nothing  about  them.  Some  three  or  four 
years  afterwards  the  same  firm  imported  a  few  jacks, 
some  jennets  and  colts  from  Catalonia. 

Messrs.  Hoy  Bros.,  of  Nebraska,  imported  five  jacks 
from  Catalonia  in  the  summer  of  1884.  They  were 
excellent  animals,  but  did  badly  after  landing,  mainly 
on  account  of  bad  management  and  a  lack  of  infor- 
mation as  to  how  they  should  be  treated. 

Luke  M.  Emerson,  of  Bowling  Green,  Mo.,  im- 
ported about  fifteen  or  twenty  Catalonians  in  1889. 
Most  of  these  were  young  jacks  and  colts,  and  among 
the  number  a  few  excellent  animals.  In  the  same 
year  the  Hon.  Harkreader,  of  Okolona,  Miss.,  im- 
ported. He  shipped  his  stock  with  Mr.  Emerson,  and 
brought  over  the  same  kind  and  about  the  same 
quality  of  stock. 

Messrs.  Kniffin  &  White,  of  Danville,  111.,  also  im- 
ported in  1889.  They  brought  over  only  ten  head — 
all  from  the  island  of  Majorca,  and  sold  them  mostly 
in  and  around  Higginsville,  Mo.  They  were  of  ex- 
cellent color  and  of  good  head  and  ears.  Most  of 
them  are  registered. 

D.  Munroe,  of  Danville,  La.,  made  an  importation 
from  Andalusia,  Spain,  in  1889.  Most  of  his  jacks 
were  purchased  in  the  provinces  of  Cordova  and  Leon. 
Many  of  them  were  black,  but  never  having  seen  the 
importation  we  cannot  say  what  proportion,  nor  do 
we  know  the  exact  number  imported.  Some  of  them, 
however,  have  been  registered,  and  judging  from  these 


6o  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OP 

pedigrees  suppose  the  jacks  are  large  and  of  good 
quality. 

In  1889  a  firm  from  Arkansas  made  an  importation 
from  the  kingdom  of  Andalusia.  This  was  regarded 
as  one  among  the  best  lot  of  jacks  ever  brought  from 
that  part  of  Spain.  The  majority  of  them  were  grays, 
but  they  were  heavy  and  of  large  bone.  They  were 
on  exhibition  for  the  purpose  of  sale  at  the  St.  Louis 
fair  in  the  fall  of  1889.  Most  of  them  were  sold  there, 
and  the  balance  were  taken  back  to  Arkansas.  This 
importation  numbered  about  twenty-five  head. 

J.  D.  and  W.  H.  Goodpasture  and  R.  H.  Hill  landed 
an  importation  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  March,  1886. 
They  were  Andalusians  from  about  the  city  of  Cor- 
dova, Spain,  and  were  about  twenty-five  in  number, 
including  both  jacks  and  jennets.  Some  of  them 
were  above  fifteen  hands  high.  In  the  fall  of  1886 
this  firm  brought  over  one  of  the  best  importations 
ever  made  of  Catalonian  jacks.  Included  in  the  num- 
ber was  Jumbo,  sold  to  a  company  for  $2,000 ;  Peacock 
for  $1,500;  Boyd's  Monarch,  $1,500;  the  Douglas 
jack,  $1,500,  at  an  auction,  etc.  The  following  year, 
the  firm  being  composed  of  J.  D.  &  W.  H.  Good- 
pasture alone,  imported  from  the  Cerdan  (the  frontier 
of  France  and  Spain,  in  the  Pyrenees).  In  this  im- 
portation was  purchased  the  jack  Great  Eastern,  whose 
likeness  appears  in  this  volume.  Later  in  the  fall 
they  made  a  second  importation  from  the  same  place. 
The  next  year  they  made  an  importation  in  connection 
with  Messrs.  Lyles  &  Parmer  of  thirty  head  of  Cata- 
lonians  and  Majorcas.  This  was  the  largest  importa- 
tion ever  made  to  America  up  to  that  time.  The  fol- 
lowing year  the  firm  again  became  J.  D.  &  W.  H. 


JACKS,  JENNKTS  AND   MUI<ES  6l 

Goodpasture,  when  they  imported  Majorcas,  Catalo- 
nians  and  Poitous  to  the  number  of  fifty-seven  head. 
This  stands  as  the  largest  individual  importation  ever 
made  to  the  United  States.  The  present  year,  1890, 
they  imported  twenty  head  of  jacks  and  jennets — all 
Catalonians. 

In  the  fall  of  1886  Whitworth,  Perry,  Lester  and 
C.  C.  H.  Burton  imported  twenty  head  of  Catalonians. 
This  was  an  extra  good  lot.  It  included  Paragon, 
recently  sold  to  George  Tarkington,  of  Danville,  Ky., 
for  $2,000.  The  following  year  Perry  &  Lester,  Bur- 
ton and  Frank  Lester,  Jr.,  made  a  most  excellent  selec- 
tion of  Majorcas  and  Catalonians.  There  was  scarcely 
an  inferior  jack  in  the  lot.  Some  of  them  were  large 
and  superior  jennet  jacks. 

The  following  year  the  firm  became  Perry,  Lester, 
Knight  &  Son,  the  selections  being  made  in  Spain  by 
William  E.  Knight  and  Frank  Lester,  Jr.  This  im- 
portation included  a  colt  two  years  and  sixteen  days 
old  that  was  sold  to  Smith  Bros.,  of  Murfreesboro, 
Tenn.,  for  $2,000,  which,  considering  age,  is  the  highest 
price  ever  paid  for  an  imported  jack  in  the  United 
States.  This  jack  (King  James)  is  full  sixteen  hands, 
and  has  proven  to  be  an  extra  breeder  for  jennets. 
There  was  a  number  of  other  good  ones  in  the  lot, 
many  of  them  being  colts  that  afterwards  developed 
into  magnificent  jacks. 

The  same  firm  imported  again  the  following  year, 
bringing  good  stock.  They  sold  three  half-brothers, 
one  yearling  and  two  two-year-olds  for  $4,500.  The 
yearling  colt  (Spanish  King)  was  sold  to  Dr.  Kird, 
Wm.  and  R.  Davis,  all  of  Wilson  County,  Tennessee, 
for  $1,500.  He  is  developing  into  a  first-class  jennet 
jack. 


62  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

Frank  Lester,  Jr.,  individually  imported  a  lot  of 
Catalonian  jacks  in  1889.  They  were  a  good,  even 
lot. 

In  1886  Dr.  B.  Stone  Plumlee  purchased  two  Anda- 
lusian  jacks  and  one  jennet,  and  shipped  to  the  United 
States  with  the  importation  of  J.  D.  &  W.  H.  Good- 
pasture. One  of  these  proved  to  be  a  great  breeder, 
and  is  in  Jackson  County,  Tennessee. 

Dr.  Plumlee  imported  the  following  year  from 
Malta,  the  year  afterwards  from  Italy,  and  in  1889 
from  Catalonia.  In  the  last  lot  was  a  colt  that  ranked 
with  the  best  imported. 

In  the  spring  of  1889  Messrs.  Lyles  &  Parmer  im- 
ported about  twenty  jacks  and  jennets,  mostly  jennets, 
which  they  sold  at  auction  at  Lexington,  Ky. 

In  1889  also  Pierce,  Burford,  Lyles,  Parmer  and 
others  imported  a  large  number  of  Catalonian  jacks. 

In  1890  the  same  firm,  with  A.  B.  Harlan,  of  Maury 
County,  imported  from  the  same  place. 

Messrs.  Berry  &  Murray,  of  Hendersonville,  Tenn., 
made  importations  of  Catalonians  and  Majorcas  in 
1 887- '88- '89- '90,  including  King  of  Inca,  and  other 
good  ones. 

In  1887  a  firm  of  Hebrews  in  Nashville,  Tenn., 
imported  a  lot  of  Italian  jacks.  I  think  that  they  made 
two  importations  that  year,  and  the  following  year 
imported  from  Catalonia. 

Messrs.  Roth  &  McClain,  in  1889,  imported  a  few 
Italian  jacks  also. 

In  1887  Messrs.  Ezell,  Fannin  and  Burnett  made 
an  importation  of  Catalonian  jacks. 

In  1889  a  gentleman  from  Putnam  County,  Ten- 
nessee, a  Mr.  Young,  imported  eight  or  ten  Catalo- 
nians. 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND   MUI.ES  63 

In  i889-'90  Moseley,  Whitaker  &  Co.,  Bellbuckle, 
Tenn.,  made  two  importations  of  Catalonian  jacks. 
They  were  a  good  average  lot. 

There  may  be,  and  doubtless  are,  a  few  whose  im- 
portation is  either  unknown  or  has  been  unintention- 
ally omitted,  but  there  cannot  be  many  such,  and  we 
feel  certain  that  there  have  been  no  very  large  impor- 
tations omitted.  We  suppose  there  have  been  about 
eight  hundred  or  one  thousand  imported  jacks  and 
jennets  brought  into  and  around  Nashville  in  the  last 
five  years. 

If  all  those  who  import  would  confine  their  pur- 
chases to  such  stock  only  as  is  calculated  to  improve 
our  own  native  jacks  and  jennets,  Middle  Tennessee 
would  soon  be  to  the  United  States  what  Spain  is  to 
Europe.  The  introduction  of  the  inferior  Mexican 
and  Texan  jennets  has  been  a  great  drawback  to  the 
progress  of  elevating  the  standard  of  our  jacks  and 
jennets. 

Before  closing  this  history,  we  wish  to  mention  the 
efficient  services  rendered  by  John  Terry  (colored), 
who  has  made  several  trips  to  Europe  as  groom — 
three  with  J.  D.  &  W.  H.  Goodpasture,  one  with 
W.  E.  Knight  &  Co.,  and  two  with  Moseley  &  Whit- 
aker. John  is  justly  regarded  as  the  champion  groom 
on  a  ship,  and  has  had  few  accidents  to  occur  to  stock 
while  in  his  charge. 

We  wish  to  acknowledge  our  obligations  to  our 
efficient  secretary,  W.  H.  Goodpasture,  for  services 
rendered  in  getting  up  the  history  of  the  late  impor- 
tations^ etc.  L.  W.  Knight,  M.D. 


64  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

MARINGO   MAMMOTH. 

About  the  year  1850  the  late  General  A.  Wilson 
and  my  father,  the  late  Captain  James  Knight,  both 
of  Marshall  County,  Tennessee,  visited  Kentucky,  and 
purchased  a  very  superior  jennet  jack,  Maringo  Mam- 
moth, in  Boyle  County.  He  was  taken  to  Caney 
Spring,  in  Marshall  County,  Tennessee,  and  did  busi- 
ness as  a  strictly  jennet  jack  for  a  number  of  years 
at  $40  per  jennet.  My  brother,  the  late  General  J.  M. 
Knight,  then  of  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  also  had  an 
interest  in  him.  I  afterwards  purchased  him  at  a 
cost  of  $2,160,  and  took  him  to  my  home,  then  in 
Rutherford  County,  Tennessee,  and  kept  him  until  he 
died.  This  jack  was  about  four  years  of  age  when 
purchased  in  Kentucky.  If  my  memory  serves  me 
correctly,  he  was  exhibited  at  Lexington  and  Danville, 
Ky.,  and  took  premiums  over  his  own  class.  He  was 
also  shown  at  Columbia,  Lewisburg,  Shelbyville, 
Nashville  and  Lebanon,  Tenn.,  at  all  of  which  places 
he  was  awarded  the  first  premium.  I  regarded  him 
as  the  most  suitable  jack  that  had  ever  been  intro- 
duced into  Tennessee  to  improve  the  small-bone  stock 
of  our  state,  up  to  that  date.  He  was  about  sixteen 
hands  high,  black,  but  not  a  jet  black,  with  white 
points.  He  had  a  remarkably  large  bone,  large  head, 
large  foot  and  body,  heavy  like  a  draft  horse,  stood 
on  and  carried  his  limbs  well  under  him,  had  good 
action  for  an  animal  of  his  size.  He  was  sired  by 
Maringo  Mammoth,  of  Kentucky,  and  he  by  imported 
Mammoth  that  was  owned  by  Messrs.  Aquila  Young, 
and  Everett,  of  Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.  One  of  Maringo 
Mammoth's  dams  was  called  Cleopatra,  the  others  I 
have    forgotten.      Imported    Mammoth    did    business 


JACKS,  JKNNKTS  AND  MULKS  65 

nine  years.  He  was  shipped  to  the  United  States  on 
a  saiHng  vessel,  there  being  no  large  ocean  steamers 
at  that  time.  As  was  the  custom  then  in  shipping 
jacks,  he  was  placed  on  a  swing,  and  was  so  heavy 
that  he  was  cut  under  the  arms  by  the  swing  and  the 
continual  rocking  of  the  vessel,  which  caused  a  run- 
ning sore  perhaps  as  long  as  he  lived.  I  am  glad 
to  say  the  facilities  for  shipping  stock  have  greatly 
improved  since  that  day.  Imported  Mammoth  did 
business  at  $100  per  jennet,  and  his  services  were  re- 
munerative to  his  owners. 

I  have  had  a  most  excellent  artist.  Professor  A.  C. 
Webb,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  to  make  a  drawing  of 
Maringo  Mammoth  from  memory.  I  wanted  my 
stock  friends  to  see  a  model  of  a  native  jack,  that  had 
been  worth  perhaps  $100,000  to  Tennessee— he  and 
his  descendants.  I  have  succeeded  in  procuring  cuts 
of  a  number  of  imported  jacks  of  different  species, 
from  several  countries,  and  thought  it  would  be  well 
to  have  a  cut  of  an  extra  good  native  jack  to  show 
in  my  book,  and  hope  I  have  succeeded  in  it.  Several 
half-brothers  of  Maringo  Mammoth  were  introduced 
into  this  state,  at  a  later  date,  which  were  great  acces- 
sions to  the  jack  and  jennet  stock  of  this  part  of  the 
country.  L.  W.  Knight,  M.D. 

Dr.  L.  W.  Knight,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

My  Dear  Father:  At  your  request  I  cheerfully 
submit  a  very  brief  sketch  of  my  trip  to  Europe  in 
search  of  jacks  and  jennets  of  such  quality  as  to 
improve  our  native  stock.  My  brother,  W.  E.  Knight, 
having  been  three  times  for  the  same  purpose,  was 
somewhat  satiated  with  travel  or  intimidated  by  storms 
and  floods,  having  encountered  both,  and  insisted  that 


66  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

it  was  my  turn.  So  securing  identification  papers  and 
all  necessary  articles  I  started,  in  company  with  the 
late  Mr.  Herman  Roth,  who  was  to  be  guide,  inter- 
preter and  companion.  He  had  crossed  the  Atlantic 
thirty-five  times,  and  could  speak  twelve  languages ; 
was  familiar  with  all  points  of  interest,  and  seemed 
never  to  tire  of  showing  them  to  me. 

I  bought  New  York  exchange  in  Nashville,  Tenn., 
and  carried  same  to  Brown  Bros.'  banking  house  on 
Wall  Street  and  bought  with  it  a  letter  of  credit,  which 
enabled  me  to  draw  money  at  any  city  in  Europe,  so 
numerous  were  the  branch  houses.  We  then  looked 
for  ship,  but  found  none  would  leave  for  Spain  within 
ten  days,  so  to  save  time  concluded  to  take  passage 
next  day  on  a  French  mail  ship  bound  for  Havre, 
France.  After  eight  days  and  nine  hours  we  were 
landed  at  the  beautiful  city,  some  of  whose  streets 
are  paved  with  water. 

While  the  object  of  our  trip  was  jacks  and  jennets 
we  could  not  miss  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  many 
sights,  so  after  taking  in  Havre,  we  started  for  Paris. 
In  a  visit  to  the  zoological  garden  there  I  saw  the 
skeleton  of  a  whale  ninety-two  feet  long,  whose  jaw- 
bone was  nineteen  feet  long;  and  the  largest  boa- 
constrictors  I  ever  saw — the  diameter  was  not  less 
than  six  inches.  The  art  gallery  with  its  beauties 
charmed  by  the  hour,  but  time  was  precious  so  on 
we  went,  only  to  stop  and  stand  in  awe  at  the  grandeur 
of  Eiffel  Tower.  Here  we  were  disappointed  at  not 
being  able  to  ascend,  as  it  was  being  painted  and 
closed  to  visitors. 

The  next  point  of  special  interest  was  Switzerland 
with  its  most  beautiful  lake  Lucerne,  encircled  by  lofty 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  67 

mountains  and  romantic  scenery.  Here  we  took  the 
tourists'  boat  and  rode  the  entire  length,  sixteen  miles, 
enjoying  the  whole  immensely.  Then  by  lake  Como 
on  railroad.  Then  went  to  Magna  Grotto,  which  is 
3,327  feet  above  sea  level,  but  the  summit  of  moun- 
tain above  this  grotto  is  10,800  feet  above  the  sea. 
This  tunnel  is  said  to  be  nine  miles  in  length  and  I 
do  not  doubt  it,  for  it  took  the  cars  considerable  time 
to  pass  through  it.  The  descent  makes  two  circles 
into  the  side  of  the  mountain  to  lessen  the  grade. 

We  then  turned  to  the  Adriatic  seashore  in  northern 
Italy,  and  traveled  almost  parallel  with  the  shore  into 
the  heel  of  Italy.  Several  times  we  left  the  cars  and 
went  into  the  interior  searching  for  stock,  finding 
some  good  ones.  And  here  let  me  say  it  may  surprise 
some  to  know  how  these  people  care  for  their  donkeys. 
Very  many  of  the  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  the 
donkey  is  kept  on  the  first  or  ground  floor,  which  is 
also  of  stone.  The  family  occupies  the  rooms  above. 
Barri  and  Forga  are  the  principal  cities  visited  on  the 
Adriatic  sea.  We  spent  two  weeks  at  Martino  Franka, 
and  visited  many  villages  that  were  used  during  the 
feudal  system,  whose  watch  towers  and  belfries  still 
stand  well  preserved.  Portions  of  the  walls  around 
some  of  these  villages  are  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, whilst  other  portions  have  yielded  to  time.  Then 
on  to  Toranto  on  the  great  sea.  Thence  an  all  day's 
ride  on  cars  to  Naples  where  we  remained  one  month, 
daily  viewing  the  noted  Mount  Vesuvius,  from  the 
city  and  several  times  passed  by  its  base,  through 
Pompeii.  During  our  stay  in  Naples  we  visited  all 
the  places  of  interest  in  the  city;  the  Royal  Palace, 
the  castle  which  was  built  by  the  Romans,  whose  base- 


^  BREEDING   AND    REARING  OF 

ment  is  solid  stone  and  now  used  for  a  penitentiary. 
We  frequented  the  beautiful  parks  on  the  beautiful 
bay  of  Naples,  where  bands  spent  hours  discoursing 
sweet  music  each  afternoon.  One  day  the  city  was 
awakened  into  new  life  by  a  visit  from  the  king  and 
queen  of  Italy  in  company  with  their  friends,  the 
emperor  and  empress  of  Germany,  and  the  crown 
prince  of  Greece.  The  ovation  tendered  them  must 
have  satisfied  their  vanity,  if  not  enough  to  turn  their 
heads.  The  city  that  once  ruled  the  world  (Rome) 
next  claimed  our  attention.  The  Vatican,  the  Col- 
losseum.  Royal  Palace,  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's 
cathedrals,  the  Pyramid,  the  Portal,  and  the  Cata- 
combs each  was  visited  by  us  and  excited  wonder 
and  admiration. 

Upon  going  back  to  Naples  we  discovered  that 
we  could  get  transportation  for  the  twenty-seven  jacks 
and  jennets  that  we  had  purchased,  on  a  Scotch 
steamer  bound  for  New  York.  So,  without  delay,  we 
began  to  make  ready.  Lumber  and  work  on  each  stall 
cost  $10,  and  was  only  about  thirty-eight  inches  wide. 
Our  stock  was  taken  on  board  May  i6,  after  paying 
export  duty  on  each  animal,  and  $20  for  litter  to  con- 
vey stock  and  feed  from  shore  to  ship,  and  happy  were 
we  at  prospect  of  starting  to  America.  We  stopped 
six  hours  at  Gibraltar,  taking  cattle  aboard  for  slaugh- 
ter. A  rope  was  fastened  around  their  horns  and  they 
were  drawn  upon  the  ship  by  machinery.  They  would 
fight  the  air  wildly  with  their  feet,  but  were  landed 
safely  on  board.  In  midocean  one  of  our  jennets 
foaled,  and  we  named  the  dark-haired  beauty  Ocean 
Wave,  and  he  proved  to  be  as  restless  and  energetic 
as  the  ocean  itself.    So  instead  of  losing  any  we  gained 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  69 

one  and  took  delight  in  nursing  the  baby  colt  while 
the  ship  did  the  rocking.  They,  of  course,  had  to  be 
watched  day  and  night,  but  we  felt  amply  rewarded 
for  our  diligence  when  arrived  at  home  without  the 
loss  of  one,  and  all  in  good  condition.  They  were 
much  admired  and  brought  fairly  good  prices. 

This  letter  has  been  very  hurriedly  written  and  is 
somewhat  disconnected,  and  many  places  merely  men- 
tioned, that  are  quite  noted,  so  there  may  occur  some 
errors,  for  my  notes  are  quite  limited,  and  a  lapse  of 
almost  eight  years  may  cause  some  little  variance  in 
memory.  Trusting  this  may  in  some  manner  interest 
some  who  may  chance  to  read  it, 

I  am  your  affectionate  son, 

James  M.  Knight. 

December  3,  1901,  Miirfreeshoro,  Tenn. 

STARLIGHT   PARAGON 

Is  black  with  white  points,  was  twenty-five  months 
old  when  this  picture  was  taken,  and  is  fully  fifteen 
hands  high,  horse  measure.  He  has  more  length,  size 
and  bone  than  most  colts  of  his  age.  He  is  heavily 
muscled,  is  strong  and  quite  active,  in  fact,  he  has 
unusual  merit.  He  was  shown  at  the  Texas  State 
Fair,  October,  1901,  and  took  first  premium  in  his 
two-year-old  ring,  and  took  second  premium  in  the 
sweepstakes,  where  there  were  more  than  a  dozen 
entries  from  three  different  states.  He  is  the  best  colt 
in  our  knowledge  to  produce  large  smooth  stock  from 
the  average  jennets  of  the  country,  he  being  large  and 
smooth  and  so  well-bred  that  he  cannot  breed  other- 
wise than  well.     He  is  by  Lell  Jenkins'  Starlight,  he 


70  BREEDING   AND    REARING  OF 

by  old  Starlight,  he  by  Bellknap,  etc.    The  late  H.  C. 
Ezell  refused  $4,200  for  old  Starlight. 

Starlight  Paragon's  dam  was  by  imported  Paragon, 
that  sold  for  $2,600.  Hence,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  colt 
has  descended  from  two  of  the  best  families  in  Ten- 
nessee. Both  have  taken  their  share  of  prizes  in  show- 
ings. He  is  the  property  of  Knight  &  Jetton,  Mur- 
freesboro,  Tenn. 

Dr.  L.  W.  Knight,  Nashville,  Tenn.: 

My  Dear  Father  :  At  your  request  I  write  you  of 
my  three  trips  to  Europe.  In  March,  1888,  I  left 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Frank  Lester, 
Jr.,  and  John  Terry,  colored.  Going  direct  to  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  we  procured  our  transports  in  case  of 
trouble  abroad.  Thence  to  New  York,  where  I  con- 
verted the  New  York  exchange  into  a  letter  of  credit 
with  Messrs.  Brown  Bros,  on  Wall  Street.  This 
letter  of  credit  enabled  us  to  draw  money  at  any  of 
the  leading  banks  in  any  city  of  note.  We  next  went 
to  the  office  of  the  Cunard  line  to  engage  berths  on 
the  Umbria,  a  very  large  and  fine  vessel,  five  hundred 
feet  in  length.  This  ship  was  to  sail  in  twenty-four 
hours.  In  the  meantime  we  took  in  some  of  the  sights 
in  New  York,  which  proved  to  be  quite  interesting. 
At  the  appointed  time  we  went  to  the  ship  to  take 
passage  and  bid  adieu  to  the  finest  country  in  the 
world,  America.  In  taking,  the  step  from  the  pier  to 
the  ship  I  never  had  such  peculiar  feelings  before 
nor  since.  It  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  be  taking 
the  fatal  step,  leaving  terra  Urma  to  go  out  on  the  dark 
blue  sea,  but  as  I  was  representing  a  strong  company 
and  all  arrangements  were  made,  there  was  no  back- 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND  MULES  71 

ing  out,  SO  on  I  went.  Many  had  come  to  bid  fare- 
well to  friends  and  relatives.  As  the  great  ship  started, 
tears  and  handkerchiefs  were  in  great  evidence.  All 
this  made  me  feel  quite  sad.  I  more  fully  realized 
that  I  was  leaving  a  bride  of  three  months  at  home. 
In  a  few  hours  everything  assumed  its  normal  con- 
dition. Two  days  out  the  waves  were  roUing  high; 
the  ladies  who  had  almost  lived  on  deck  began  to  dis- 
appear and  did  not  come  out  again  until  the  gales, 
lasting  three  days,  had  passed.  They  looked  as  if  they 
had  lost  their  best  friend.  In  the  meantime  the  writer 
was  getting  considerable  experience,  often  giving  vent 
to  his  feelings  feeding  the  fish.  Queenstown,  Ireland, 
was  our  first  stop,  discharging  a  few  passengers,  some 
cargo  and  mail.  This  was  Friday  night,  eleven  p.  m. 
The  next  day  we  arrived  at  Liverpool,  at  eleven  a.m. 
On  landing  our  baggage  was  examined,  which  re- 
quired but  a  few  minutes.  We  left  Liverpool  imme- 
diately for  London,  stopping  at  Charing  Cross  Hotel, 
too  late  for  supper.  We  ate  at  a  restaurant  across 
the  street.  Having  satisfied  our  appetite  we  prome- 
naded, taking  in  some  of  the  sights  of  the  great  city. 
The  streets  were  crowded  with  people  and  the  cops 
were  very  conspicuous.-  Charing  Cross  is  quite  a 
large  hotel,  using  stone  for  floors.  Next  morning 
we  took  train  for  Dover,  crossing  English  channel,  a 
distance  of  twenty-eight  miles,  to  Calais,  France.  On 
arriving  at  Dover  we  were  informed  that  a  vessel  was 
lost  the  night  before,  which  is  nothing  unusual  on 
the  channel.  We  consider  this  the  most  dangerous 
body  of  water  we  ever  crossed.  From  Calais  we 
went  directly  to  Paris,  the  prettiest  city  we  ever  saw, 
waiting  here  a  few  hours  for  our  train.     In  Paris  we 


72  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

had  quite  a  little  experience  trying  to  instruct  a 
French  cabman  where  to  take  us,  as  he  could  not 
understand  English  nor  we  French.  Finally  an  Eng- 
lishman, taking  in  the  situation,  came  to  our  rescue 
and    instructed    the    Frenchman    where    to    take    us. 

Leaving  Paris  we  arrived  in  Bordeaux  the  next 
morning  where  our  interpreter,  Mr.  P.  Carles,  met  us 
as  instructed.  He  proved  to  be  quite  a  pleasant  gen- 
tleman. I  assure  you  it  was  quite  a  pleasant  reUef  to 
meet  him,  as  we  could  not  speak  any  language  except 
English,  therefore,  it  was  difficult  for  us  to  get  along. 
I  asked  Mr.  Carles  where  we  could  buy  some  good 
jacks.  He  did  not  know,  but  referred  us  to  Mr. 
Ribo  Saster,  who  lived  in  the  Pyrenees  Mountains  in 
France,  near  the  Spanish  line. 

We  met  Mr.  Saster  in  Toulouse,  France.  We  ex- 
plained our  business  to  him,  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  render  the  desired  assistance  to  us.  He  seemed 
to  think  he  was  the  man  we  were  looking  for.  His 
services  were  at  once  engaged  and  off  we  put  for 
Barcelona,  thence  to  Vick,  which  is  situated  in  the 
province  of  Catalonia.  We  found  a  few  jacks  in  the 
town ;  after  looking  at  them  we  hired  a  cart  and  driver 
so  we  could  visit  the  farmers  and  see  their  stock.  We 
found  that  in  buying  the  more  matured  animals  there 
was  considerable  competition,  besides  they  were  not 
plentiful,  and  we  began  to  purchase  colts  from  ten 
months  old  up.  The  jacks  in  Spain  are  often  kept  in 
the  basement  of  the  dwellings  on  stone  floors.  They 
get  but  little  to  eat  and  not  much  exercise.  Their  chief 
food  is  a  large,  coarse  bean,  a  few  shelled  oats  and 
hay.  Owing  to  this  style  of  treatment  we  found  three 
decided  advantages  in  selecting  colts.     One  was  no 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MUI.ES  73 

competition ;  the  second,  we  got  picking  choice ;  and 
the  third  was,  after  we  got  the  colts  home  with  proper 
feed  and  exercise  these  colts  would  develop  to  a  much 
higher  degree  of  perfection,  and  our  expectations  were 
fully  realized.  For  example,  we  sold  three  half-broth- 
ers.; two  were  yearlings  past  and  one  two-year-old, 
for  $4,500.  We  purchased  nineteen  head.  Most  of 
them  were  quite  poor.  We  had  led  them  over  the  Pyr- 
enees Mountains  into  France,  stopping  at  Axe,  which 
is  about  half  way  down  the  mountain  and  a  very 
popular  watering  resort.  We  remained  here  twenty- 
four  days  getting  our  stock  in  condition  for  the  long 
voyage.  They  improved  rapidly.  At  this  place  Mr. 
Ribo  Saster  left  us,  as  we  were  through  buying.  He 
proved  to  be  an  excellent  gentleman ;  his  judgment 
was  good  and  he  impressed  us  as  a  man  of  unusual 
energy.  He  lives  at  Porta,  France.  He  invited  us  to 
dine  with  him,  which  was  a  most  excellent  affair, 
serving  twelve  courses.  It  is  useless  to  say  how  much 
we  appreciated  this  act  of  kindness  from  a  man  that 
we  had  known  but  a  few  weeks.  Mr.  Saster  seemed  to 
take  a  great  interest  in  me.  Often  at  meals  he  would 
say  in  broken  English,  "You  no  eat,  are  you  seak?" 
Mr.  Saster  came  back  to  Axe  to  assist  us  in  loading 
our  stock  to  ship  to  our  sailing  point,  Bordeaux.  As 
we  parted  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  and  he  kissed 
me  good-bye.  We  remained  in  Bordeaux  but  a  few 
days,  sailing  on  the  Chateau  Lafite,  of  the  Bordeaux 
shipping  line.  We  had  a  nice  smooth  voyage,  losing 
but  one  animal,  in  Jersey  City.  At  this  place  we  rested 
our  stock  some  thirty-six  hours.  We  also  made  a  short 
stop  at  Covington,  Ky.,  some  eighteen  hours,  thence 
home.     Mr.    Frank   Lester   is   a   big-hearted    fellow, 


74  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

always  in  good  spirits.  John  Terry  proved  to  be  a 
most  excellent  man  with  stock  on  board  ship.  We 
were  gone  about  three  months  on  this  trip. 

My  second  trip  was  in  1889.  I  was  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Walter  Murray,  of  Mt.  Juliet,  Tenn.  We  left 
Nashville  in  March,  going  direct  to  New  York.  There 
we  were  met  by  Dr.  B.  S.  Plumlee,  who  made  the 
entire  trip  with  us.  This  time  we  sailed  on  the 
Etruria,  a  handsome  vessel  of  the  Cunard  line.  She 
has  made  quite  a  reputation  for  speed.  The  Etruria 
is  a  twin  ship  to  the  Umbria.  We  landed  at  Liverpool 
and  went  practically  over  the  same  territory  as  stated 
in  former  trip.  After  buying  some  forty  head  we 
heard  of  some  jacks  seventy  miles  away  up  in  the 
mountain  where  it  was  much  colder  and  very  deep 
snow.  Dr.  Plumlee  was  complaining  of  being  unwell, 
so  Mr.  Murray  and  I  made  the  trip,  buying  nine 
head  of  good  stock.  In  the  meantime  Dr.  Plumlee 
bought  a  few  individual  animals.  Having  purchased 
in  all  fifty-six  head,  Mr.  Murray  returned  to  our 
former  field  of  business  to  assist  in  collecting,  and 
paying  for  that  which  we  had  already  purchased  and  I 
took  the  nine  head  to  Toulouse,  where  we  met  and 
reshipped  to  Bordeaux,  our  sailing  point.  We  were 
quite  unfortunate  this  trip,  losing  twelve  head  in  the 
Atlantic  and  eight  head  from  New  York  to  Nashville, 
twenty  head  in  all.  This  time  we  shipped  on  second 
deck  and  did  not  have  sufficient  ventilation,  which 
produced  pneumonia.  We  used  my  former  inter- 
preter, Mr.  P.  Carles,  and  our  genial  commissioner, 
Mr.  Ribo  Saster.  Had  our  train  been  on  time  we 
would  have  reached  Johnstown  at  ten  a.m.,  just  in 
time  for  the  great  flood,  but  fortunately  for  us  our 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MUI<ES  75 

train  was  delayed  some  six  hours.  We  were  detained 
at  Altoona,  Pa.,  thirty-five  miles  east  of  Johnstown, 
some  eight  days  on  account  of  the  many  washouts  on 
railroad.  We  crossed  a  number  of  bridges  just  before 
reaching  Altoona ;  several  of  them  were  washed  away, 
so  we  made  a  narrow  escape  after  all.  Our  home 
people  were  quite  uneasy  for  some  days,  as  they  could 
not  hear  from  us.  All  communications  were  cut  off 
both  by  wire  and  postal,  but  after  all  we  got  in,  in 
good  shape,  minus  several  jacks.  We  had  a  good 
many  ups  and  downs  mixed  with  pleasure.  While  at 
Altoona  we  did  not  go  to  bed;  some  of  our  stock 
were  sick  and  greatly  scattered  and  required  attention 
every  few  hours,  consequently  there  was  not  much 
rest  for  the  weary. 

My  third  and  last  trip  was  in  189 1.  In  company 
with  Mr.  Herman  Roth,  an  Austrian,  we  left  Nash- 
ville, August  19,  and  sailed  on  the  Saala,  of  the  German 
Lloyd  line,  direct  to  Southampton,  England,  where 
we  were  to  take  another  vessel  for  Havre,  France. 
But  this  was  twenty-four  hours  behind  time,  so  we 
took  a  special  for  London,  where  we  spent  a  few 
hours,  going  direct  to  Paris.  While  there  we  visited 
the  Eiffel  Tower.  It  is  a  wonderful  structure,  tower- 
ing about  1,000  feet.  It  required  three  different  eleva- 
tors to  ascend  to  the  top.  It  cost  some  three  or  four 
francs  to  make  the  trip.  We  started  to  go  up.  After 
reaching  the  second  elevator  my  friend,  Mr.  Roth,  said 
he  had  gone  far  enough.  I  insisted  on  his  going  on 
with  me,  but  to  no  effect.  He  said  he  would  remain 
where  he  was  until  my  return.  On  reaching  the  top 
I  had  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  city  and  surrounding 
country.     People  looked  like  children  and  horses  like 


76  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

ponies  on  the  streets.  There  is  a  house  on  this  tower ; 
in  it  is  a  restaurant  and  some  small  stores,  and  one 
could  buy  most  anything  except  a  horse  and  buggy. 
Leaving  Paris  we  crossed  the  Alps  into  Italy.  In 
these  mountains  we  saw  a  beautiful  lake.  Descending 
we  passed  through  a  tunnel  that  required  thirty-three 
minutes  to  pass  through.  I  suppose  this  is  the  long- 
est tunnel  in  the  world.  The  first  city  we  came  to  of 
importance  was  Turin,  then  to  Genoa,  reaching  there 
at  night.  This  is  a  city  of  considerable  importance, 
situated  on  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  the  birthplace 
of  Columbus.  We  spent  a  few  hours  in  Rome,  where 
we  visited  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  which  is  an  immense 
structure,  the  largest  in  the  world.  Joining  it  is  the 
Vatican,  where  Pope  Leo  the  Thirteenth  lives.  His 
guards  are  gaudily  dressed.  We  went  to  see  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  which  is  two  miles  out  and  quite  handsome 
and  of  more  modern  style.  It  is  considered  by  many 
the  handsomer  of  the  two.  On  our  return  to  the  city 
we  saw  the  Colosseum,  which  is  practically  destroyed. 
In  the  center  of  the  ring  is  a  small  stone  structure 
where  wild  animals  were  kept  to  kill  the  worst 
criminals  in  years  gone  by.  The  next  city  we  came 
to  was  Naples,  a  city  of  large  proportions ;  from  here 
we  went  up  into  the  mountain  to  buy  our  stock.  We 
purchased  seventeen  in  all.  There  is  some  prejudice 
against  the  Italian  jacks,  owing  to  some  very  inferior 
ones  having  been  imported,  but  this  was  pronounced 
by  competent  judges  one  of  the  best  all-round  impor- 
tations ever  brought  over.  As  a  rule  the  Italian  jack 
is  superior  to  the  Spanish  jack  in  color,  bone,  foot, 
and  constitution,  but  not  altogether  so  stylish.  We 
kept  our  stock  in  Naples  about  two  weeks  waiting  for 


JACKS,  JKNNKTS  AND   MULES  ^^ 

our  ship,  the  steamship  CaUfornia.  We  sailed  from 
Naples  through  the  Mediterranean  Sea  into  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar.  While  stopping  at  Malaga  to  coal  I  went 
ashore  to  see  a  bull  fight  given  in  behalf  of  the  flood 
sufferers.  It  was  largely  attended  by  both  men  and 
women,  and  children.  Would  estimate  the  crowd  at 
20,000.  Six  bulls  were  killed  and  some  twenty  horses. 
Bull  fighting  is  the  chief  sport  of  Spain.  It  is  anything 
but  elevating.  Arriving  at  Gibraltar  I  went  ashore 
with  the  steward  to  get  some  green  stuff  for  our 
stock,  but  did  not  succeed  in  getting  much.  We 
walked  through  the  city.  It  is  by  far  the  best  fortified 
city  we  have  seen.  Leaving  Gibraltar  we  encountered' 
a  storm,  going  around  the  Azores  Islands,  which 
lasted  for  eighteen  days.  The  question  was  often 
asked  by  the  passengers  who  was  the  Jonah  on  the 
ship.  This  storm  was  something  fearful.  It  seemed  as 
if  every  day  would  be  the  last.  I  have  no  desire  to  be 
in  another  one  like  this.  The  Atlantic  was  said  to  be 
rougher  in  October,  1891,  than  had  been  known  in 
thirty  years.  We  were  out  in  all  twenty-four  days,  los- 
ing one  animal.  Our  ship  was  reported  lost  ten  days 
before  we  reached  New  York.  The  evening  we  sailed 
from  Naples  Mr.  Roth  was  cabled  the  news  of  the  death 
of  his  wife,  but  he  failed  to  get  it,  which  I  suppose 
was  fortunate  for  him.  He  did  not  learn  of  her  death 
until  he  reached  his  home  at  Lexington,  Ky.  While 
waiting  for  our  ship  at  Naples  I  visited  Mt.  Vesuvius, 
which  is  seven  miles  out.  It  is  plainly  seen  from 
Naples.  It  is  constantly  throwing  out  great  volumes 
of  smoke.  The  crater  or  mouth  of  the  volcano  is 
something  Hke  150  feet  square.  I  went  right  to  the 
crater  and  heard  a  fearful  roaring  noise.    The  lava  had 


78  BREEDING  AND  REARING  OF 

spread  out  over  thousands  of  acres,  often  as  high  as 
fifteen  feet.  I  saw  the  spot  where  Pompeii  once  stood. 
This  was  the  roughest  trip  we  ever  experienced.  We 
lost  but  one  animal,  the  others  reaching  home  in  good 
condition.  There  were  many  places  of  interest  that 
I  would  like  to  have  visited,  but  the  opportunity  did 
not  present  itself. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

W.  E.  Knight. 
December  30,  1901,  Nashville,  Tenn, 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND   MULES  79 


BREEDS  OF  JACKS. 

Less  is  perhaps  known  of  the  different  breeds  of 
jacks  and  jennets  than  of  any  other  character  of  live 
stock.  This  may  be  said  to  be  true  even  in  those 
sections  in  which  they  are  best  known,  while  in  many 
sections  of  our  country  absolutely  nothing  is  known 
of  them.  They  simply  know  that  a  donkey  is  a  don- 
key, and  that's  the  end  of  it.  Now,  we  conceive  it 
to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  that  breeders  especially 
should  make  themselves  familiar  with  all  the  different 
breeds,  because  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
them,  not  only  in  appearance  and  color,  but  also  in 
their  value  as  adapted  to  our  country.  If  a  man 
wants  a  buggy  horse  he  will  hardly  buy  a  Percheron, 
and  if  he  wants  to  raise  the  best  animal  for  beef  he 
will  scarcely  invest  in  the  Jersey.  He  knows  of  these, 
and  need  not  hesitate  as  to  what  breed  to  buy  after 
he  has  determined  upon  the  purposes  for  which  it  is 
to  be  used.  Now,  if  a  man  has  a  herd  of  jennets, 
too  small  of  bone  or  too  light  of  body,  he  ought  to 
know  what  breed  is  most  likely  to  remedy  these  de- 
fects in  the  progeny.  If  his  herd  is  *'off  in  color,"  as 
the  saying  is,  then  he  ought  to  know  what  breed  is 
most  likely  to  overcome  such  a  defect. 

Although  such  a  thing  properly  has  no  place  in  a 
stud  book,  it  was,  nevertheless,  thought  best  to  give 
a  short  but  succinct  description  of  all  the  different 
breeds  of  jacks  in  use  in  this  country,  because  of  the 


8o  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

popular  ignorance  above  referred  to,  and  because  of  a 
general  lack  of  literature  upon  the  subject. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  breeds  that  have  been  in- 
troduced into  this  country,  and  of  their  value  as 
adapted  to  it,  I  can  perhaps  do  no  better  than  quote 
an  address  read  before  the  East  Tennessee  Farmers' 
Convention,  with  such  corrections  and  additions  as 
may  be  thought  necessary: 

We  find  the  jack  the  first  animal  domesticated  by 
man  for  the  puroose  of  bearing  his  burdens  and  trans- 
porting him  in  his  tedious  marches  and  travels.  We 
find  him  mentioned  with  respect  in  Genesis;  that  he 
was  carefully  bred  and  reared  by  King  David;  that 
he  is  the  only  one  of  the  lower  animals  of  which  we 
have  record  to  whom  was  given  the  divine  power  of 
speech,  which  he  seems  to  have  used  with  moderation 
and  discretion  in  a  short  conversation  with  Balaam; 
that  on  him  alone  was  conferred  the  undying  honor 
of  conveying  our  Savior  into  the  proud  city  of  Jeru- 
salem. That  wayward  son,  too,  of  David — Absalom, 
the  Boulanger  of  the  Jews — rode  upon  a  mule  beneath 
the  ill-fated  branch  that  caught  his  flowing  locks. 

Beside  these  distinguished  honors,  I  find  that  in 
other  countries,  climes,  and  times  they  possessed  dis- 
tinguished characteristics  unknown  to  our  own  do- 
mestic ass.  That  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Arabia 
they  are  said  to  be  so  fleet  of  foot  that  no  horse  can 
overtake  them,  even  in  that  country  in  which  the  horse 
is  described  as  being  as  fleet  as  the  wind ;  that  in 
certain  parts  of  Africa  their  meat  is  of  the  most  de- 
licious flavor,  and  was  gready  sought  after  and  ap- 
predated  by  Roman  epicures.  He  was  used,  too,  in 
ancient  times  for  the  same  purpose  that  he  is  to-day, 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND   MUIvKS  8 1 

viz. :  the  propagation  of  mules ;  and,  during  the  Roman 
occupation  of  Spain,  the  value  of  the  males  for  this 
purpose  was  placed  at  above  $13,000.  And  this  brings 
me  to  the  practical  part  of  my  subject — the  profit  in 
breeding  them. 

I  think  the  breeding  of  all  kinds  of  jacks  can  be 
made  to  a  certain  degree  profitable,  and  I  apprehend 
that  it  would  be  of  more  interest  to  my  hearers  to  en- 
deavor to  show  in  what  breed  there  is  the  most  profit, 
rather  than  an  abstract  discussion  of  the  subject  of 
jacks  in  general.  And,  therefore,  I  shall,  as  briefly 
as  possible,  notice  the  diflferent  races  of  jacks  that 
have  been  brought  to  this  country,  not  in  the  order  of 
their  importance,  but  in  the  order  of  their  importa- 
tion. And  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  a  just  and  fair 
estimate  of  their  value  as  adapted  to  our  country. 

The  first  to  be  imported  were  from  the  Cape  de 
Verde  Islands,  and  without  doubt  traced  back  to  the 
Portuguese.  They  were  introduced  into  Connecticut 
principally,  and  were  used  to  raise  a  small  and  in- 
ferior mule  for  export  to  the  West  Indies.  At  that 
time  jacks  could  not  be  imported  from  Spain  on  ac- 
count of  the  Peninsular  wars,  and,  therefore,  the 
specimens  introduced  were  of  such  an  inferior  kind 
that,  as  soon  as  the  West  India  trade  died  out  from 
competition  with  better  animals,  the  people  ceased  to 
raise  them,  and  because  of  their  bad  start  they  have 
never  commenced  again.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
Massachusetts.  It  is  not  because  of  climate,  as  many 
erroneously  suppose.  They  were,  while  in  the  busi- 
ness, just  as  successful  as  any  other  part  of  the  coun- 
try, considering  their  material.  Besides  the  jack  does 
not  necessarily  come  from  a  warm  country;  indeed, 
4 


82  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

the  reverse  may  be  said  to  hold  good  so  far  as  the 
best  jacks  of  Spain  are  concerned.  We  have  imported 
some  of  our  best  jacks,  Great  Eastern  among  the 
number,  from  a  point  in  full  view  of  the  eternal  snows 
of  the  Pyrenees,  and  in  bringing  them  home  marched 
them  over  snow  in  June.  And  let  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  breeding  jacks  only  think  of  the  enormous 
unoccupied  field  yet  to  be  supplied  with  them.  The 
demand  for  them  North  has  already  commenced. 
Some  of  our  best  sales  last  year  were  made  to  Indiana 
and  Illinois,  to  which  points  we  had  never  sold  before. 
We  are  constantly  in  receipt  of  letters  of  inquiry  from 
Ohio,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Colorado,  Nebraska,  California, 
and  even  far  off  Vermont.  Some  two  or  three  weeks 
ago  I  received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  one  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  Hawaii,  who  was  anxious  to  in- 
troduce the  jack  on  these  rich  and  fertile  islands.  The 
possibilities  for  the  trade  are  beyond  computation,  and 
a  significant  fact  is  that  not  above  two  or  three  states 
now  raise  a  surplus. 

THE    ANDALUSIAN. 

Here  in  Tennessee  we  have  experimented  more  or 
less — but  under  the  most  unfavorable  circumstances, 
on  account  of  a  lack  of  organization  and  a  stud  book 
— with  all  the  prominent  breeds.  Those  first  intro- 
duced were  the  Andalusians,  and  reached  either 
through  Virginia  or  Kentucky.  The  king  of  Spain, 
in  1787,  presented  to  General  Washington  a  jack  and 
jennet  of  this  breed.  The  former  was  called  the 
Royal  Gift.  About  the  same  time  he  was  presented 
with  a  Maltese  jack  by  the  Marquis  Lafayette.  The 
Maltese  jack  was  crossed  on  the  Andalusian  jennet, 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  83 

the  result  of  which  was  a  very  famous  jack  called 
Compound,  that  proved  to  be  much  more  popular  as 
a  breeder  than  the  Royal  Gift,  which  was  said  to  have 
been  selected  from  the  royal  stud,  and  was  near  six- 
teen hands  high,  but  ill-shapen  and  ungainly. 

Not  many  years  after  this,  the  great  orator  and 
statesman,  Henry  Clay,  who  always  had  an  unbounded 
love  for  agriculture  and  live  stock,  imported  into  Ken- 
tucky a  few  Andalusians.  No  two  men  of  that  day 
could  have  added  greater  popularity  to  a  particular 
breed — the  one,  the  idol  of  the  whole  country,  the 
other,  the  leader  of  a  great  party  and  the  nation's 
most  distinguished  orator;  and  hence,  every  man  who 
wanted  to  experiment  with  jacks  wanted  to  try  this 
particular  breed.  And  the  color  especially  has  held 
on  so  tenaciously  that  gray  jacks  are  still  extremely 
common  with  us. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  distinctive  breeds  of  jacks 
in  existence.  They  are  found  in  the  southern  part 
of  Spain,  embracing  the  whole  of  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Andalusia,  and  are  evidently  of  an  ancient  race,  for 
we  read  of  them  and  the  profits  arising  from  their 
use  in  propagating  mules  during  the  Roman  occupa- 
tion and  before  the  time  of  Christ.  Columella,  who, 
in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  published  a 
treatise  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  on  the 
husbandry  and  economy  of  the  Romans,  gives  very 
particular  directions  for  breeding  jacks  and  mules. 
He  was  a  native  of  Cadiz,  Spain,  owned  large  estates 
there,  and  tells  us  that  the  best  mules  were  raised  in 
that  part  of  the  country. 

They  are  distinctively  gray  in  color,  sometimes  in- 
deed practically  white,  but  in  rare  instances  black,  and 


84  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

even  blue  ones  are  to  be  found.  To  find  one  black, 
however,  is  little  in  his  favor,  as  he  is  just  as  apt  to 
breed  gray  as  his  brother,  who  is  entirely  white.  The 
blood  is  there  and  will  show  itself.  In  height  they 
are  about  the  same  as  the  Catalonian ;  fourteen  and 
one-half  to  fifteen  hands.  They  have  a  most  excel- 
lent leg;  the  bone  is  large  and  firm,  and  freer  than 
are  the  other  breeds  from  what  is  commonly  known 
as  "jack  sores,"  viz. :  a  running  sore  that  appears  on 
the  inside  of  the  knee  and  hock,  and  which  sometimes 
gives  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  They  have  a  fairly 
good  head  and  ear,  and  are  really  a  good  jack.  While 
many  of  them  have  been  imported  into  this  country, 
they  have  never  been  popular,  chiefly  on  account  of 
their  color.  In  this  we  believe  the  people  to  be  right. 
There  are  other  races  just  as  good,  and  some  that  we 
think  are  better,  that  have  the  desired  color,  and  the 
progressive  breeder  should  seek  the  ideal  in  all  things. 

We  have  heard  at  least  one  importer  complain  of 
their  not  breeding  regularly,  but  we  do  not  think 
this  has  been  our  observation  of  them.  So  far  as 
we  have  seen,  they  are  as  much  to  be  depended  upon 
in  this  respect  as  any  others. 

The  breed  is  now  pretty  thoroughly  scattered  over 
this  country,  as  in  addition  to  those  brought  over  be- 
fore the  war,  they  have  been  imported  in  the  last  few 
years  by  Mr.  Lyles,  of  Kentucky;  Messrs.  Good- 
pasture, of  Tennessee;  the  Messrs.  Leonard,  of  Mis- 
souri ;  and  in  1889  quite  a  large  importation  by  a 
firm  in  Arkansas. 

Their  hereditary  tendency  to  gray  can  only  be  elimi- 
nated by  carefully  breeding  to  one  of  the  distinctively 
black  races.     We  do  not  think  a  gray  or  blue  jennet 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MULES  85 

ought  ever  to  be  bred  to  a  native  jack  if  a  black  im- 
ported one  can  be  reached,  unless,  as  is  sometimes 
the  case,  the  pedigree  of  the  native  can  be  traced  in 
one  unbroken  line  of  black  stock  to  the  imported  black 
breed.  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  a  majority  of  our 
natives  at  some  point  in  their  ancestry,  immediate  or 
remote,  are  tainted  with  an  off  color. 

THE    MALTESE. 

About  the  best  known  imported  jack  in  America  is 
the  Maltese.  The  older  jack  men  of  to-day  will  re- 
member that  as  boys  they  heard  a  great  deal  about 
the  Maltese  jacks.  They  are  at  least  contemporary 
with,  if  they  do  not  actually  antedate,  the  Andalusian 
in  their  introduction  into  this  country. 

Mr.  Pomeroy,  one  of  our  earliest  authorities,  how- 
ever, on  jackology,  says  that  the  Knight  of  Malta  pre- 
sented to  General  Washington  was  unquestionably  the 
first  of  his  breed  to  be  introduced  into  this  country; 
that  the  second  came  in  the  frigate  Constitution,  from 
her  first  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  was  sold  in 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  and  that  not  long  afterwards 
a  number  were  introduced  by  officers  of  the  navy, 
from  Malta,  and  that  a  few  very  valuable  ones  were 
brought  over  in  merchant  ships.  Certain  it  is  that 
they  became  comparatively  well  known  in  this  country 
at  a  very  early  day,  and,  until  a  few  years  ago,  the 
people  seemed  to  know  only  two  breeds — the  broad 
term  of  Spanish  and  Maltese. 

Mr.  Pomeroy  says  that  there  is  no  question  but 
that  the  race  is  of  Arabian  origin,  more  or  less  degen- 
erated. They  are  found  on  an  island  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, very  far  to  the  south,  and  belonging,  I  be- 


86  BREEDING  AND    REARING  OF 

lieve,  to  England.  The  island  of  Malta  is  small  in 
circumference  and  exceedingly  sterile  in  soil.  Dr. 
Plumlee,  who  imported  from  there  recently,  tells  me 
that  the  soil  in  no  part  is  more  than  a  few  inches  in 
depth,  and  that  what  there  is,  is  a  made  soil.  A  few 
inches  below  the  surface  it  is  a  solid  rock.  Dr.  Plum- 
lee says  that  the  supply  of  pure-bred  jacks  there  is 
exceedingly  limited;  in  fact,  when  he  was  there  and 
bought  eight  or  ten,  and  as  many  more  jennets,  he  did 
not  leave  more  than  one  jack  on  the  island  that  was 
worth  his  transportation  home. 

They  are  by  nature  a  smaller  jack  than  any  of  the 
Spanish  breeds,  seldom,  if  ever,  going  over  fourteen 
and  one-half  hands.  The  average  height  of  those  im- 
ported would  not  go  over  fourteen  hands,  and  of 
course  they  average  smaller  on  the  island. 

Dr.  Plumlee  has  his  kind  of  theory  as  to  their  size. 
It  is  that  as  they  are  found  on  an  island  entirely 
sterile,  with  little  vegetation  and  inferior  grain  crops, 
they  naturally  grew  small,  but  with  proper  treatment 
in  this  country,  plenty  of  feed  and  an  abundance  of 
pasturage,  they  will  in  a  few  generations  attain  the 
desired  size. 

They  are  either  black  or  brown  in  color,  the  pure- 
bred generally  inclined  to  the  latter,  have  good  heads 
and  piercing,  upright  ears,  and  a  great  deal  of  vitality, 
showing  an  immense  amount  of  vigor  during  the 
breeding  season.  They  are  about  the  gamest  and  most 
fiery  little  jacks  that  we  have,  and  while  some  of  them 
have  good  bone  and  feet,  their  limbs  have  always  too 
much  resembled  the  thoroughbred  horse. 

If  we  rode  jacks  to  war  as  the  ancients  were  said 
to  have  done  under  Marius,  or  drove  mules  to  our 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MULES  87 

carriages,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  late  Queen  Isabella 
of  Spain,  or  in  chariot  races,  as  was  the  custom  in  the 
Olympic  games  five  or  six  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  then  I  think  the  Maltese  would  be  the  best, 
perhaps,  of  any  of  the  breeds.  But  none  of  these 
things  is  what  the  farmer  is  after. 

We  want  a  powerful  draft  animal  fitted  for  either 
the  city  dray  or  the  cotton  or  sugar  plantation.  We 
have  now  experimented  with  the  breed  for  over  a 
hundred  years,  and  he  is  found  to  be  wanting.  He  is 
too  small  for  our  purposes.  And  here  I  want  to  men- 
tion a  very  important  question  now  facing  the  breeders 
of  the  country,  and  especially  certain  portions  of  it, 
and  which  has  been  made  to  assume  its  deserved  im- 
portance by  the  organization  of  the  American  Breed- 
ers' Association  of  Jacks  and  Jennets,  and  that  is. 
What  is  the  proper  or  ideal  size  of  the  breeding  jack 
or  jennet? 

There  is  a  small  coterie  of  breeders  in  Tennessee,  I 
hope  confined  to  the  middle  division,  who  maintain 
that  jennets  under  fourteen  are  better  breeders  than 
jennets  over  fourteen  hands  high,  and  estimate  as 
worthless  the  jennet  fifteen  hands  high  or  over.  I 
am  happy  to  note  that  the  history  of  the  show  ring, 
especially  in  the  great  breeding  districts  of  Kentucky, 
shows  that  their  ideas  have  never  traveled  very  far 
away  from  home,  and  it  is  only  mentioned  because  of 
its  effects  in  the  particular  section,  and  because  it 
was  intended  as  an  attack  on  our  rules  of  entry. 

They  say  they  want  no  overgrown  animals.  Now, 
the  trouble  is  that  our  jennets  in  Tennessee  have  at 
no  time  been  big  enough.  I  agree  with  the  man  who 
says  he  wants  no  overgrown  animal.     What  we  want 


88  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

is  a  big  race  of  jacks.  The  jack  fifteen  hands  high 
out  of  the  twelve  and  one-half  hand  jennet  is  over- 
grown to  a  greater  extent  than  is  the  sixteen  hand 
jack  from  the  fourteen  and  one-half  or  fifteen  hand 
jennet.  The  experience  of  these  men  has  been  this: 
They  own  no  large  jennets,  and  never  did.  They 
sometimes,  however,  get  a  large  jack  in  spite  of  the 
smallness  of  their  jennets.  This  jack  is  overgrown 
and  does  not  breed  up  to  himself,  but  reproduces 
the  size  of  his  ancestor.  And  hence  they  cry  aloud 
from  the  housetops  and  from  the  public  prints, 
"Don't  breed  to  a  big  jack."  And  they  are  in  a 
measure  correct,  so  far  as  the  big  jacks  which 
they  raised  are  concerned.  But  breed  a  big  jack 
to  a  big  jennet,  and  the  issue  will  have  as  much 
hardness,  style  and  action,  as  well  as  size  and  the 
power  to  transmit  all  these  desirable  qualities,  as  will 
the  small  jack  to  transmit  the  qualities  of  himself.  In 
other  words,  the  issue  will  then  be  in  almost  exact 
proportion.  When  you  meet  one  of  these  antiquated 
fossils,  he  thinks  he  has  forever  silenced  you  when 
he  asks  if  you  ever  saw  a  sixteen  hand  jack  over  ten 
years  old.  He  might  just  as  well  ask  you  if  you  ever 
saw  a  jaybird  on  Friday.  Their  theory  is  utterly  un- 
tenable. As  a  race,  the  big  will  not  produce  little, 
nor  will  the  little  produce  big,  and  if  established  as  a 
race  and  not  as  a  phenomenon,  the  big  jack  will  live 
to  just  as  green  an  old  age  as  wall  the  little  one.  The 
Percheron  is  quite  as  long-lived  as  is  the  Shetland 
pony.  Length  of  life  is  not  measured  by  the  number 
of  inches  or  of  pounds. 

Another    important    consideration    that    will    apply 
with  double  significance  to  registration  in  the  stud 


JACKS,   JENNETS   AND   MUI.ES  89 

book  is  this :  It  has  been  the  experience  and  observa- 
tion of  mankind  for  all  ages  that  the  offspring  in  the 
whole  of  animal  life  will,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
reproduce  the  characteristics  of  one,  and  sometimes 
of  both,  their  immediate  ancestors,  and  they  may  even 
have  them  in  a  high  degree,  though  the  ancestor  pos- 
sessing them  be  generations  back.  It  is  likewise  the 
observation  of  the  thoughtful  that  they  are  quite  as 
likely  to  inherit  them  from  the  dam  as  they  are  from 
the  sire,  and  some  even  maintain  they  are  more  so. 
Now,  may  not  the  colt  of  the  small  jennet  thirteen 
hands  high  which  produces  a  jack  fifteen  and  one-half 
hands  reproduce  in  turn  the  size  of  his  dam?  Under 
the  rules  he  is  eligible  to  registry,  and  pray  tell  me 
what  credit  it  would  be  to  him  to  have  his  thirteen 
hand  dam  registered.  And  suppose  they  are  small 
for  generations  back,  would  not  such  registration 
actually  detract  from  his  pedigree  when  the  size  would 
not  otherwise  appear?  The  great  army  of  scientific 
breeders  would  know  at  once  what  to  expect  of  his 
progeny. 

Still  another  important  question  in  this  connection 
is  that  of  money.  No  one  raises  jacks  for  the  pure 
and  unadulterated  love  for  the  business,  nor  for  the 
fun  that  is  in  it,  nor  yet  for  the  glory  and  honor,  but 
for  that  all-important  factor,  the  amount  of  money 
they  will  bring  as  a  reward  for  the  toil,  care  and  labor 
involved.  Now,  for  the  benefit  of  those  just  starting 
in  the  business,  and  for  those  who  believe  the  world 
reached  perfection  about  the  time  of  their  boyhood, 
and  that  there  is  now  no  such  thing  as  progress,  I 
will  affirm  what  I  can  easily  prove — that  the  big  jack 
brings  the  big  price,  and  the  Httle  jack  the  little  price. 


90  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OE 

This  state  of  affairs  has  not  only  existed  for  some- 
time, but  it  promises  to  grow  a  great  deal  worse  in 
the  future.  In  handling  from  one  or  two  importations 
each  year,  this,  without  exception,  has  been  our  uni- 
form experience.  Give  a  man  a  list  of  our  sales,  and 
he  can  almost  grade  the  size  of  the  animal  by  the 
price.  I  never  knew  a  jack  to  bring  a  large  price  if 
under  fifteen  hands  high,  and  I  never  knew  one  to 
bring  a  very  large  price  if  under  fifteen  and  one-half 
hands.  This  is  not  only  our  own  experience,  but  our 
observation  in  sales  of  above  200  head  each  year. 
The  best  and  most  profitable  trade  is  in  what  are 
termed  jennet  jacks,  and  these  must  in  all  cases  be 
large.    There  is  a  large  demand  for  such  animals. 

THE    CATALONIAN. 

The  next  breed  to  make  its  appearance  in  this  coun- 
try was  the  Spanish  Catalonian. 

After  Henry  Clay's  importation  of  Andalusians,  his 
son  was,  I  believe,  made  consul-general  to  Spain.  In 
any  event,  he  was  sent  there  in  the  consular  or  diplo- 
matic service,  and  while  there  sent  to  his  father's 
Kentucky  home  an  excellent  specimen  of  this  breed. 
So  much  pleased  was  Mr.  Clay  with  the  jack  that  a 
year  or  two  later  he  imported  from  the  same  place 
a  number  of  others.  A  picture  of  one  of  these  orna- 
ments one  of  the  rooms  in  the  old  homestead  at  Ash- 
land. 

A  few  were  also  imported  at  this  early  day  into 
Virginia.  Mr.  Franklin  and  others  imported  to  Mid- 
dle Tennessee  long  before  the  war,  and  purchased 
another  importation  that  had  been  landed  at  Charles- 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MULES  91 

Ion,  S.  C.  This  breed  has  always  been  popular,  and 
justly  so.  For  the  propagation  of  mules  of  a  certain 
quality  they  are  unsurpassed,  and  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  rearing  them  need  never  fear  but  that  the 
demand  for  them  will  be  active  and  the  prices  remun- 
erative. They  have  many  valuable  qualities,  and  among 
these  is  that  of  color.  Browns,  or  rather,  sunburned 
blacks,  are  frequently  seen,  but  the  majority  have  a 
very  glossy,  jet-black  coat  of  short  hair  that  is  greatly 
sought  after.  Besides  they  are  a  jack  of  good  height, 
varying  from  fourteen  and  one-half  to  fifteen  hands, 
in  rare  instances  reaching  sixteen  hands.  While  they 
have  not  a  large  bone,  it  is  a  very  flat,  clean  one.  Our 
Kentucky  brethren  object  to  them  chiefly  on  the 
ground  that  their  bone  is  not  large  enough;  but,  I 
think,  this  objection  would  disappear  after  a  few  gen- 
erations on  our  rich  blue  grass  soil. 

There  are  few  gray  jacks  in  Catalonia.  During  nu- 
merous trips  there  I  have  never  seen  more  than  two 
or  three,  and  these  had  doubtless  strayed  in  with 
their  owners  from  some  province  farther  south.  They 
have  been  thus  bred  for  ages,  and  this  fixedness  of 
color  constitutes  a  point  of  much  merit  in  the  breed, 
and  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  I  should  prefer 
breeding  a  jennet  to  them  than  to  our  native  stock. 
Our  jennets  in  this  country  are  very  diverse  in  color. 
Grays,  blues  and  mouse-colored  are  quite  numerous. 
There  is  no  way  of  so  quickly  eradicating  these  off- 
colors  as  by  the  cross  indicated. 

It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  a  color  that  has  been  true 
for  ages  in  an  animal  will  reproduce  itself  in  a  cross 
with  stock  lacking  in  pure  breeding.  The  Cleveland 
bay  horse  that  is  stood  to  a  neighbor's  mares  of  varied 


92  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

hues  will  show  about  ninety  per  cent  of  bay  foals. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  grade  Holsteins  so  per- 
fectly marked  as  to  be  undistinguishable  from  the 
pure  breed.  Even  though  the  native  jack  be  black,  he 
may  not  transmit  that  color — they  are  quite  as  apt  to 
transmit  the  color  of  their  ancestry,  though  it  be  for 
generations  back. 

The  Catalonian  is  a  jack  of  great  style  and  beauty 
and  of  superb  action,  and  many  are  being  used  in  our 
best  jennet  herds.  I  think  they  are  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  black  cross  in  our  native  stock.  A  great  num- 
ber of  them  are  being  imported,  and  I  think  they  will 
continue  the  history  of  their  successful  past.  They 
derive  their  name  from  the  section  of  country  in 
which  they  are  found,  this  being  the  northern  part  of 
Spain,  embracing  all  the  departments  known  as  Cata- 
lonia. It  covers  some  hundreds  of  miles  in  area,  ex- 
tending from  the  Mediterranean  coast  to  the  French 
side  of  the  Pyrenees,  taking  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Cerdan,  which  lies  both  in  France  and  Spain.  Al- 
though they  are  found  in  both  countries,  they  are  still 
found  only  in  the  mountains  of  the  Pyrenees.  They 
are  scattered  all  over  the  south  of  France,  bordering 
the  mountains  about  Toulouse,  Tarbes,  Pau  and  else- 
where. These  were,  nevertheless,  born  in  their  moun- 
tain fastnesses  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  were  imported  as 
colts  to  take  their  places  in  the  stud  when  they  be- 
came sufficiently  old.  Many  of  our  best  Catalonian 
jacks  that  have  been  imported  from  France  were  thus 
introduced. 

The  supply  of  good  jacks  in  this  territory — the 
Pyrenees — is  limited  and  almost  exhausted  by  the 
large  and  increasing  importations  to  America.    When 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  93 

they  were  being  imported  before  the  war  it  was  at- 
tended by  great  difficulty  and  danger,  public  con- 
veyances and  modes  of  travel  difficult,  railroads  un- 
known, and  society  in  a  rather  unsettled  condition. 
Spain  was  the  last  of  the  countries  to  become  safe 
and  pleasant  to  travel  in,  and  her  mountains,  extend- 
ing all  over  the  country,  north  and  south,  east  and 
west,  afforded  admirable  places  for  sheltering  brig- 
ands and  robbers.  It  is  a  large  country,  but  one  can 
hardly  find  any  part  of  it  that  is  not  in  full  view  of 
a  tall  mountain  peak,  covered  by  eternal  snow. 

The  jack  had  to  be  brought  home  in  sailing  vessels, 
steamers  not  then  being  in  use.  These  were  slow  and 
unfitted  for  the  transportation  of  live  stock,  unlike 
our  splendid  modern  steamers,  brought  about  by  the 
immense  importations  and  exports  of  horses,  cattle, 
etc.  When  old  Mammoth  was  imported  he  had  to  be 
swung  most  of  the  way,  which  cut  into  his  flesh,  I 
am  told,  until  it  was  feared  his  wounds  would  prove 
fatal. 

Smce  the  war,  with  improved  facilities,  a  great 
many  have  been  imported  to  this  country,  and  espe- 
cially to  Tennessee,  from  which  point  they  have  been 
scattered  all  over  the  jack  territory  of  the  Union. 
Those  imported  are  usually  from  fourteen  and  one- 
half  to  fifteen  hands  high,  though  smaller  ones  have 
been  imported,  and  some  that  were  considerably 
larger,  in  a  few  rare  instances  going  above  sixteen 
hands. 

The  large  bone  of  the  Kentucky  jack  is  well  known, 
and  is  perhaps  given  by  their  unsurpassed  limestone, 
blue  grass  soil.  But  the  Catalonian  jack  in  his  bone, 
we  think,  is  more  devoid  of  flesh,  and  it  is  perhaps  of 


94  BREEDING  AND  REARING  OP 

a  finer  texture  than  our  native  stock,  as  is  the  case 
of  the  thoroughbred  compared  to  the  other  breed  of 
horses.  They  make,  therefore,  an  admirable  cross 
for  our  native  jennets.  The  imported  jennets  of  this 
breed  may  Hkevvise  be  profitably  crossed  with  the 
native  of  proper  color  and  pedigree,  avoiding  in  the 
selection  those  in  any  w^ay  related  to  an  off-color. 

For  style  and  action  they  are  possibly  unequaled, 
certainly  not  surpassed,  by  any  other  race.  This  is 
noticed  with  great  force,  too,  in  the  case  of  jennets. 
Our  native  jennet  stock  are  proverbially  dull  and 
lazy;  they  move  about  in  the  most  composed  manner, 
with  an  entire  lack  of  appreciation  of  modern  ideas  of 
''get  up  and  go."  Such  a  thing  as  playing  in  pasture 
or  paddock  is  far  beneath  their  sense  of  dignity  and 
decorum,  yea,  even  childlike.  Age  fastens  upon  their 
feelings  and  spirits  long  before  they  reach  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  being  matrons  or  mistresses.  But 
the  imported  will  play  and  run  about  their  lot  like 
a  colt,  and  some  of  them  can  trot  like  an  embryo 
Sunol  or  Maud  S.  We  remember  one  occasion,  when 
we  were  driving  in  a  carriage  on  a  government  road 
in  France.  Our  team  was  a  spirited  pair  of  Tarbes 
horses,  with  a  great  deal  of  the  Oriental  Arabian 
blood  coursing  through  their  veins.  Our  driver  was 
no  less  spirited — a  defeated  son  of  France  in  their  late 
clash  with  Germany,  but  who  had  still  enough  spirit 
left  to  try  to  pass  everything  on  the  road.  We  saw 
ahead  of  us,  driving  at  a  smart  gait,  a  man  in  a  two- 
wheeled  vehicle  with  a  fine  looking  jennet  hitched 
to  it.  We  were  at  that  time  buying  a  few  jennets, 
and  ordered  our  driver  to  overtake  what  promised 
to  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  our  purchase.     The 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MULES  95 

man,  however,  refused  to  be  overtaken,  and  we  drove 
a  full  half  mile  at  the  limit  of  our  speed  before  we 
could  come  alongside  of  him.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  we  purchased  the  jennet,  but  the  amusing  feature 
of  it  was  that  we  had  purchased  the  same  animal  the 
day  before.  When  rigged  up  and  at  full  speed  in  a 
race  there  was  enough  difference  to  cause  us  to  fail 
lo  recognize  her,  though  my  father  said  he  thought 
she  favored  one  a  good  deal  that  he  bought  the  day 
before. 

One  rarely  sees  a  droop-eared  one  among  them, 
and  when  one  does,  it  generally  has  some  physical 
ciuse,  such  as  a  hurt  in  shipping,  disease,  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind. 

This  race  are  most  excellent  breeders,  as  they  have 
proven  in  all  the  jack  producing  states.  Their  mules 
are  handsome,  quick,  active  and  good  sellers,  and  we 
have  heard  it  said,  though  we  do  not  know  how  this 
is,  that  they  mature  very  early. 

All  those  breeders  whose  stock  run  back  in  their 
pedigree  to  the  imported  ought  to  state  of  what  breed 
they  were  imported.  A  man  with  a  jennet  would 
not  want  to  breed  to  a  jack  running  back  to  the 
Andalusian,  because  if  she  had  any  disposition  that 
way  anyhow  she  would  be  pretty  apt  to  throw  a  gray 
colt,  whereas,  if  bred  to  one  running  back  to  the  Cata- 
lonian,  he  would  most  likely  overcome  such  disposi- 
tion toward  gray. 

THE    MAJORCA. 

One  of  the  popular  breeds  of  jacks  that  have  been 
imported  in  the  last  few  years  is  the  Majorca.  They 
ar^  imdotibtedly  the  largest  jacks  that  have  been  im- 


96  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

ported,  and  have  been  much  sought  after  for  jennet 
purposes.  Their  bone  is  exceedingly  large,  with  a 
body  to  correspond.  They  are  black  and  rarely  have 
that  glossy  color  so  admired  in  the  Catalonians,  but 
those  I  have  seen  brought  to  this  country  will  average 
almost,  if  not  quite,  a  hand  taller  than  the  latter.  In 
Europe  they  rank  about  the  same,  both  being  re- 
garded as  superior  to  the  Andalusian.  We  have  im- 
ported all  three,  and  I  judge  of  their  rank  by  their 
price  in  Spain. 

Majorca,  the  largest  of  the  Balearic  group  of 
islands,  and  the  one  on  which  these  jacks  are  prit- 
cipally  found,  is  the  richest  and  most  productive  pa't 
of  Spain.  Although  it  is  an  island,  I  class  it  with 
its  continental  mother,  because  of  its  proximity  and 
close  communication,  and  because  the  jacks  there 
have  fallen  into  the  general  category  of  Spanish.  It 
is  necessary  to  irrigate  the  greater  part  of  the  island, 
but  the  rich  luxuriance  of  its  grass  and  grain  crops 
gladdens  the  eye  and  cheers  the  heart.  I  think  this 
is  a  full  explanation  of  the  size  of  their  jacks.  This 
leads  me  to  believe  that  here  in  America,  by  means 
of  our  generous  system  of  feeding  and  unexcelled 
pastures,  and  with  careful  and  scientific  breeding,  we 
can  succeed  in  a  few  years  in  propagating  a  race  of 
jacks  of  whatever  size  and  form  desired,  provided  al- 
ways that  we  commence  with  the  proper  foundation. 
Majorca,  Kentucky,  and  even  Tennessee,  illustrate 
the  fact  that  we  can  give  them  an  increased  size.  The 
poor  and  sterile  plains  of  Algiers,  Africa,  have  ex- 
actly the  opposite  effect  of  our  own  rich  and  alluvial 
soil.  We  imported  a  jennet  from  there  a  few  years 
ago,  fully  mature,  and  she  was  little  above  nine  hands 


JACKS,  JENNETS  AND  MULES  97 

high.  It  has  doubtless  taken  generations  to  produce 
an  animal  in  such  miniature,  but  the  final  effect  is 
none  the  less  inevitable.  Nothing  will  aid  the  en- 
deavor to  create  the  best  jacks  in  the  world  here  so 
much  as  the  late  organization  of  the  American 
Breeders'  Association  of  Jacks  and  Jennets.  By- 
means  of  it  we  need  not  necessarily  breed  our  stock 
to  the  overgrown  jack.  A  careful  perusal  of  the 
stud  book  will  reveal  to  us  jacks  that  are  large  be- 
cause their  size  is  inherited,  and  if  our  jennets  should 
be  materially  deficient  in  any  especial  point,  then  from 
this  list  or  race  of  big  jacks  let  the  breeders  select 
the  one  strongest  and  most  perfect  in  such  deficient 
point.  And  when  such  an  animal  is  found  do  not 
hesitate  to  breed  to  him  regardless  of  distance  or  sea- 
son fee.  By  such  breeding  we  can  raise  up  a  race 
such  as  the  French  have  done,  in  which  there  are  no 
really  cheap  or  inferior  animals.  They  will  be  good 
breeders  because  they  have  good  breeding. 

The  Majorca  is  not  destined  to  cut  any  great  figure 
in  this  country.  Their  numbers  are  too  limited,  and 
there  is  no  way  in  which  to  greatly  augment  it.  The 
island  from  which  they  are  imported  is  small  and  has 
been  Hterally  stripped  of  its  meritorious  animals. 
What  few  have  been  brought  to  this  country  are  now 
scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  No  jennets 
have  been  imported,  and  in  a  few  years  there  will  not 
be  a  pure-bred  Majorca  in  this  country,  and  except 
for  the  stud  book  their  name  would  be  only  one  of 
history.  They  have  not  been  in  this  country  long 
enough  to  fully  demonstrate  their  worth,  but  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  they  will  rank  fully  up  to  the  Cata- 
lonian  for  mules,  and,  for  a  large  class  of  our  jennets, 


9^  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

surpass  them.  Their  power  of  reproduction  is 
strongly  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment obtains  the  greater  part  of  her  artillery 
mules  from  Majorca.  And  some  of  these  were  also 
obtained  a  few  years  ago  by  the  English  government 
for  transport  service  in  Egypt  and  elsewhere. 

As  to  height,  those  brought  to  this  country  will 
average  about  fifteen  and  one-half  hands.  They  are 
more  uniform  in  size  than  the  Catalonian,  and  we 
believe  them  to  be,  all  things  considered,  the  largest 
jacks  in  existence. 

A  good  many  of  the  breed  have  been  imported  into 
South  America,  and  at  prices  that  astonished  me 
when  I  first  learned  them.  Two  sold  there  a  few 
years  ago  are  reported  to  have  gone  at  the  price  of 
$900  each,  which,  if  all  expenses  are  added,  makes  a 
pretty  good  figure  for  a  country  considered  by  us  so 
far  in  the  rear  of  North  American  civilization. 

Their  heads  and  ears  are  enormous  and  inclined  to 
a  bulky  appearance.  While  they  have  the  longest 
and  largest  ears  of  any  other  race  they  are  not  so  erect 
and  piercing  as  the  Catalonian,  nor  have  they  the 
style  and  action  of  this  breed ;  in  fact,  they  may  be 
said  to  incline  to  sluggishness. 

If  the  Catalonian  be  likened  to  the  French  coach 
horse  or  the  Cleveland  bay,  the  Majorca  would  be  a 
Percheron  or  a  Shire. 

There  is  certainly  no  purer  race  of  jacks  in  Spain 
than  the  Majorca.  As  far  back  as  1825  Mr.  Pome- 
roy,  in  an  essay  before  the  Maryland  Agricultural 
Society,  said :  ''So  much  have  been  the  ravages  of 
war  and  anarchy  in  Spain  for  a  long  time  past  that 
the  fine  race  of  jacks  that  country  once  possessed  has 


JACKS,  JENNKTS   AND   MUI.ES  99 

become  almost  extinct.  In  Majorca,  however,  and 
probably  some  parts  of  the  coast  of  Spain  opposite, 
the  large  breed  may  yet  be  obtained  in  its  purity." 

It  is  easily  understood  why  the  race  should  be  the 
purest  of  any  of  the  Spanish  breeds.  The  line  divid- 
ing Andalusia  and  Catalonia  is  an  imaginary  one, 
and  along  the  border  there  is  necessarily  a  more  or 
less  commingling  of  the  breeds  among  the  people, 
who  at  no  time  have  given  their  time  and  attention 
to  scientific  or  even  very  careful  breeding;  and  of 
course  a  large  part  of  both  countries  must  be  effected 
by  the  kind  of  stock  bred  by  the  other.  This  is  all 
the  more  probable,  too,  as  no  value  whatever  is  placed 
upon  color.  They  like  a  white  just  as  well  as  a  black, 
and  would  not  reduce  a  dollar  on  a  jack  if  he  should 
happen  to  be  green.  But  Majorca  is  an  isolated  island 
two  or  three  hundred  miles  from  the  coast  of  Spain, 
and  is  inhabited  by  a  people  satisfied  to  do  as  their 
fathers  did  before  them,  and  who  likewise,  as  is  often 
the  case,  think  that  what  they  have  is  better  than  what 
anyone  else  has.  It  is  hardly  likely,  therefore,  that 
they  would  go  to  the  expense  of  bringing  across  the 
seas  any  foreign  blood.  As  a  rule  the  jack  breeders 
of  Spain  are  not  a  class  who  have  the  means  to  im- 
port, or  the  information  that  would  lead  to  it. 

To  our  people — I  mean  those  engaged  in  the  stock 
breeding  business — their  lack  of  information  is  as- 
tonishing to  the  last  degree.  Go  to  a  progressive 
breeder  in  this  country,  of  whatever  kind  of  stock, 
and  he  can  give  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the 
location  and,  perhaps,  the  ownership,  of  the  larger 
half  of  his  kind  of  stock  in  the  state.  But  in  Spain 
one  section  is  as  profoundly  ignorant  of  what  is  in 


lOO  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OF 

another  section  as  he  is  of  the  Fiji  Islands  or  Stan- 
ley's ''Darkest  Africa." 

THE    ITALIAN. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  very  much  about  the  jacks 
of  Italy,  but  a  good  many  have  been  imported  lately, 
and  it  seems  proper  that  the  people  should  know 
enough  of  them  not  to  be  led  away  by  the  seductive 
term,  imported,  and  who  at  the  same  time  will  not 
discredit  all  jacks  because  they  are  imported. 

They  are  found  almost  everywhere  in  Italy,  where 
little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  breed.  They  are 
principally  used  for  packing  purposes,  and  are  the 
smallest  of  any  of  the  breeds  imported.  The  moving 
cause  of  their  importation  was  their  cheapness.  They 
were  bought  for  a  song,  and  in  most  cases  had  to 
be  sold  for  another  song,  with  little  or  no  profit  to 
the  dealer.  For  this  reason  we  have  perhaps  seen  the 
last  of  them. 

Occasionally  they  may  be  found  to  reach  fourteen 
hands,  but  they  rarely,  if  ever,  get  to  be  taller  than 
this.  Those  brought  to  this  country,  and  they  were 
the  pick  of  Italy,  ranged  from  about  thirteen  to  four- 
teen hands,  were  generally  black  (though  grays  are 
not  uncommon),  and  had  rather  large  bones  and  good 
weight  of  body.  Many  of  them  were  practically  use- 
less as  mule  jacks,  having  doubtless  been  raised  up 
with  jennets.  We  saw  a  five-year-old  that  was  im- 
ported into  Tennessee  that  positively  refused  under 
any  circumstances  to  fall  in  love  with  a  mare,  and 
that  ran  out  in  the  pasture  with  a  herd  of  jennets 
without  harm  either  to  him  or  them.  I  saw  another 
lot  of  four  or  five,  only  one  of  which  could  be  in- 


£1 


O  w 

J!  « 

I  s 

>  H 


:5  -c 


JACKS,  JENNETS   AND  MULES  lOI 

duced  to  fulfill  the  end  for  which  nature  seems  to 
have  adapted  them,  and  that  only  after  a  long  and 
tedious  use  of  a  jennet.  For  the  mare  herself  he 
cared  no  more  than  he  did  for  the  negro  groom  who 
held  her.  This  is  all  the  more  unfortunate,  because 
they  are  entirely  too  small  to  use  with  jennets. 

We  have  heard  it  said,  though  we  are  not  willing 
to  vouch  for  its  accuracy,  that  they  have  not  proven 
themselves  in  this  country  to  be  satisfactory  breeders. 
We  are  rather  inclined  to  think  that  with  a  mare  of 
merit  they  would  sire  a  fairly  good  but  small  mule. 
We  have  seen  a  few  carloads  of  handsome  little  mules 
from  Italy,  ranging  from  fourteen  to  fourteen  and 
one  -  half  hands,  and  of  good  form  and  color.  We 
know  nothing  of  the  class  of  mares  producing  them. 

I  believe  them  to  be  inferior  to,  but  at  the  same 
time  descended  from,  the  Maltese.  They  have  many 
points  of  resemblance,  and  are  sufficiently  close  to- 
gether for  such  to  be  the  case;  or  else  the  Maltese 
may  be  descended  from  the  Italian. 

I  will  add,  in  conclusion,  that  sometimes  they  are 
quite  vicious  (this  is  one  of  the  points  of  resem- 
blance), and  in  one  instance,  to  our  personal  knowl- 
edge, a  groom  was  hurt  by  one  of  them  by  being  so 
severely  bitten  on  the  arm  as  to  confine  him  to  his 
bed  for  some  weeks.  It  is  our  observation  that  small 
jacks  are  more  apt  to  develop  vicious  propensities 
than  large  ones,  but  it  will  do  to  keep  one's  eyes  open 
on  any  of  them. 

THE    POITOU. 

The  last  of  the  distinctive  breeds  of  jacks  to  be 
imported   to   this    country   were   the   Poitou.      Their 


I02  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

early  history  is  most  entertaining.  They  are  to  be 
found  in  what  is  known  as  the  granary  of  France — 
in  the  richest  and  most  fertile  part  of  that  most  fertile 
of  all  countries.  They  are  found  throughout  the 
province  of  Poitou,  but  more  especially  in  the  de- 
partments of  La  Vendee  and  Deux-Sevres.  In  olden 
times  (they  are  mentioned  in  French  literature  as 
early  as  1016)  France  was  not  divided  up  as  now 
into  small  farms  and  plantations,  but  was  owned  in 
large  bodies  by  rich  lords  and  noblemen.  These  had 
their  tenants  by  the  hundreds,  and  most  of  them  kept 
a  number  of  live  stock,  especially  a  few  mares  for 
farm  work,  etc.  On  account  of  the  price  of  good 
jacks  and  the  cost  of  labor,  etc.,  in  standing  them, 
it  became  the  custom  of  the  proprietors  to  provide 
this  for  their  tenants.  Europe  was  at  that  time  in 
continual  war,  and  this  required  vast  armies  in  the 
field;  consumption  of  agricultural  products  was  enor- 
mous, the  profits  of  the  farm  great,  but  tenants  to 
till  it  scarce.  The  tenant,  therefore,  having  a  choice, 
naturally  selected  the  place  offering  the  greatest  in- 
ducements. An  important  one  of  these  was  the 
breeding  animals,  and  hence  among  these  rich  land- 
lords there  was  much  rivalry  as  to  the  merits  of  their 
different  studs ;  and  being  in  command  of  large 
wealth  and  abundant  leisure,  their  breeding  estab- 
lishments, even  at  an  early  day,  reached  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection  attainable  by  the  lavish  expendi- 
ture of  money  and  the  most  careful  and  scientific 
breeding.  Perhaps  this  may  account  for  the  univer- 
sally high  esteem  in  which  the  French  Poitou  jack  is 
held  all  over  the  southern  part  of  the  continent  of 
Europe.     No  jacks  are  used  in  the  north.     This  was 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MTJI^ES  IO3 

their  start,  and  for  all  these  years  the  constant  and 
unabated  care  of  their  breeders  has  been  to  maintain 
their  distinctive  characteristics,  the  purity  of  their 
blood,  and  to  augment  their  merits.  Only  think  of 
what  may  be  accomplished  by  man  in  the  course  of 
a  few  centuries  with  the  proper  effort! 

In  1866  Mr.  Eugene  Ayrault,  of  Niort,  France, 
published  a  volume  on  the  Poitou  jack.  I  am  sorry 
that  it  has  never  been  translated.  It  is  a  book  of 
high  order  of  merit,  and  was  awarded  a  gold  medal 
by  the  Society  of  Agriculture  in  France.  I  would 
prefer  giving  his  to  my  own  description  of  these 
jacks,  because  he  is  the  best  obtainable  authority  on 
this  subject.     He  says: 

"His  head  is  enormous  in  size,  and  is  very  much 
larger  than  that  of  any  other  race  in  existence.  His 
mouth  is  smaller  than  that  of  the  horse;  teeth  small, 
but  the  enamel  exceedingly  hard.  The  opening  of 
the  nostril  is  narrow,  the  ear  very  long,  and  adorned 
with  long,  curly  hair,  called  cadanette,  which  is  much 
esteemed  by  breeders. 

*'It  is  said  that  animals  with  the  longest  bodies  pro- 
duce the  best  mules,  and  this  is  greatly  looked  to. 
The  tail  is  rather  short,  and  furnished  with  long  hair 
at  its  extremity  only.  The  chest  is  very  broad,  and 
the  belly  voluminous.  The  shoulders  are  short;  the 
muscles  of  the  forearm  long,  but  not  very  thick. 
The  knees  are  exceedingly  large,  as  are  all  the  joints. 
The  chestnuts,  or  horny  places  near  the  knees,  are 
large  and  well  developed.  The  abundance  of  hair 
which  covers  the  jack  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
sought-for  qualities.  The  animals  are  called  well- 
taloned  and  well-moustached  when  they  have  these 
qualities  in  a  high  degree. 


I04  BREEDING   AND    REARING   OF 

"The  mane  is  long  and  fine,  the  skin  smooth,  the 
hair  fine  and  silky  in  texture.  We  give  great  pref- 
erence to  large  feet,  for  which  this  breed  is  noted. 
The  skin  is  almost  universally  black  or  dark  brown. 
The  gray  jack,  though  seldom  met,  is  rejected  by 
good  mule  breeders.  The  animals  which  have  the 
end  of  the  nose  black  and  whose  bodies  are  wholly 
of  this  color  are  said  to  be  lacking  in  breeding.  The 
skin  and  coating  of  the  jack  is  very  important,  and 
it  is  thought  that  the  mules  from  a  jack  superior  in 
this   respect  mature  earlier." 

Such  is  Mr.  Ayrault's  description  of  them.  I  will 
add  that  these  jacks  are  physically  the  most  power- 
ful of  any  race  in  existence ;  they  have  greater  weight 
and  more  bone  and  substance  generally.  They  are 
not  exceedingly  tall,  their  legs  being  extremely  short, 
but  in  a  cross  with  a  mare  of  fair  size  the  mule  will 
be  found  to  have  all  the  height  desired.  The  first 
impression  one  gains  of  a  Poitou  is  not  a  favorable 
one.  They  are  never  trimmed  or  groomed  in  Poitou, 
and  we  are  not  accustomed  to  their  long  hair  and 
bulky  appearance.  It  gives  them  the  appearance  of 
being  too  short  in  the  neck  and  ear;  but  this  is  a 
matter  of  education. 

The  demand  for  these  jacks  is  such  that  it  cannot 
be  supplied,  and  even  French  breeders  in  certain  parts 
of  the  country  are  forced  to  use  the  Catalonian  and 
Majorca,  though  they  acknowledge  the  superiority 
of  the  Poitou.  Their  price  is  enough  to  stagger  one. 
Mr.  Ayrault  says  that  $i,ooo  to  $1,200  is  ordinary, 
while  $2,000  for  a  single  animal  is  not  uncommon. 
I  am  in  receipt  of  a  letter  from  a  friend  of  mine  in 
France,  who  writes  me  that  a  three-year-old  Poitou 


JACKS,  JKNNETS   AND  MUI,ES  105 

that  was  exhibited  at  the  late  Paris  Exposition  was 
sold  to  a  South  American  gentleman  for  the  sum  of 
$3,200.  In  our  own  limited  experience  there  we  have 
been  made  to  pay  as  high  as  $1,500  for  a  two-year-old 
colt. 

Without  disparaging  the  merits  of  any  other  breed, 
for  we  have  the  sincerest  admiration  for  some  of 
them,  the  fact  remains  that  the  mules  from  the  Poitou 
are  the  largest,  heaviest  and  best  to  be  seen  in  Europe. 
I  may  add,  too,  that  this  is  accepted  as  a  fact  in  all 
mule  breeding  countries  of  the  continent. 

A  very  large  number  of  Poitou  mules  are  imported 
each  year  to  Spain,  notably  to  their  chief  city,  Bar- 
celona, where  they  outsell  their  own  native  stock. 
The  large  firm  of  San  Marti  &  Sons  have  been  thus 
importing  to  that  city  for  years.  They  supply  mules 
both  to  the  government  and  to  individuals.  The 
senior  member  of  the  firm  has  assisted  in  the  purchase 
of  some  of  the  best  jacks  that  have  been  imported  to 
this  country  from  Catalonia.  For  heavy  work  he 
has  expressed  the  opinion  to  the  writer  that  the  Poitou 
mules  were  unequaled  by  any  race  of  horses  or  any 
other  breed  of  mules.  It  is  true  that  the  mares  found 
in  Catalonia  are  not  everything  that  could  be  desired. 
They  are,  perhaps,  better  in  the  south  of  Spain,  but 
hardly  the  thing  yet  for  mule  breeding,  being  Spanish 
barbs,  perhaps  introduced  by  the  Moors  when  in  pos- 
session of  the  country,  and  continental  importations 
from  the  Orient.  Hence  the  mules,  while  they  are 
handsome  and  active,  lack  the  weight  and  body  re- 
quired. 

The  mares  to  be  found  in  Poitou  are  neither  the 
Norman  draft  nor  the  Percheron,   but  are  a   large, 


I06  BREEDING   AND   REARING   OF 

broad-backed,  heavy-bodied,  powerful  race  that  seem 
especially  adapted  to  mule  breeding.  The  test  of  the 
jack  breeds,  therefore,  is  in  France.  The  Poitou,  as 
has  been  before  mentioned,  are  not  sufficient  in  num- 
ber to  fulfill  the  demand  in  their  own  country,  and 
hence  there  are  hundreds  of  the  Spanish  jacks  im- 
ported there  for  use  in  the  stud.  We  have  seen  the 
Poitou  and  the  Catalonian  in  the  same  establishment — 
the  owner  possessing  the  very  best  specimens  of  the 
latter.  The  Poitou  here  fairly  maintains  his  ascen- 
dancy, and  his  mules  outsell  the  Spanish  breed. 

The  Count  of  Exea,  who  maintains  at  Tournay  the 
most  magnificent  breeding  establishment  that  we  have 
ever  visited,  keeps  two  very  remarkable  specimens 
of  this  breed  for  use  solely  on  his  own  mares.  One 
of  them  is  fifteen  and  one-half  hands,  and  the  other, 
a  three-year-old  past,  is  fifteen  and  three-quarters 
hands.  This  is  a  remarkable  height  for  the  breed, 
as  they  usually  range  from  fourteen  and  one-half  to 
fifteen  hands,  rarely  growing  taller.  The  fifteen  and 
one-half  hand  jack  was  so  immense  in  all  his  pro- 
portions that  we  measured  his  knee,  hind  hock,  belt, 
length  of  ears,  etc.,  in  order  to  see  if  our  vision  was 
deceived  by  appearances,  and  after  we  had  left  and 
applied  the  measure  to  other  animals  we  concluded 
that  both  our  eyes  and  tape  were  wrong,  so  huge  did 
his  measure  appear.  The  count  says  he  gave  $2,000 
for  this  jack,  and  upon  our  inquiring  of  him  how 
he  could  afford  to  keep  so  valuable  an  animal  for 
mares  only,  he  carried  us  into  his  barn — a  grand 
structure  that  has  cost  a  mint  of  money — and  there 
showed  us  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  mule  colts, 
one  and  two  years  of  age.     When  I  saw  the  mules 


JACKS,   JENNETS    AND   MULES  107 

I  could  readily  see  how  he  could  afford  to  use  the 
jack.  Owning  all  the  mules,  twenty-five  or  thirty 
dollars  on  the  head,  is  an  easy  demonstration  of  how 
a  man  can  afford  to  use  the  best  jack  obtainable,  re- 
gardless of  the  money  he  costs.  An  easier  query 
would  be  how  could  he  afford  to  use  an  inferior  or 
even  an  ordinary  one,  his  capital  enabling  him  to 
obtain   the   best. 

The  count  also  had  some  jennets,  but  because  they 
were  of  kin,  or  because  he  was  afraid  of  their  effect 
on  the  jack,  or  because  he  thought  he  knew  of  one 
that  would  nick  better  with  them,  he  did  not  breed 
to  his  own  jacks  but  shipped  them  to  M.  Sago's,  near 
Niort,  France,  a  distance  of  at  least  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles. 

I  mention  these  things  only  because  I  hope  they 
may  be  of  value  in  teaching  two  important  truths 
and  eliminate  at  least  one  popular  error.  One  is, 
that  you  cannot  get  a  jack  too  good  for  mule  breed- 
ing. For  this  purpose  many  think  that  one  jack,  if 
he  is  a  fair  looker,  will  do  about  as  well  as  another 
or  a  better  one.  But  the  true  theory  is,  get  the  best 
if  you  can,  and  in  breeding  mares  the  difference  in 
the  value  of  the  colt,  between  a  good  and  a  bad  sire, 
will  be  perhaps  three  or  four  times  the  difference  in 
price  of  service   fees. 

Another  lesson  is,  that  in  this  country,  where  is 
raised  the  finest  and  best  jack  stock  on  earth,  or  if 
that  is  contradicted,  it  can  be  said  without  fear  of 
successful  contradiction,  the  highest  priced  jack  stock 
on  earth,  the  people  do  not  hesitate  to  ship  hundreds 
of  miles  to  breed  their  jennets  to  that  animal  that 
suits  them  best,   even  though  they  may  have  good 


I08  BREEDING  AND    REARING   OP 

ones  at  home.  The  general  rule  in  America  is  to 
breed  to  the  one  most  convenient. 

It  may  be  of  interest  in  this  connection  to  note  the 
value  of  the  mule  business  in  Poitou.  I  have  no 
statistics  later  than  1866,  since  which  time  the  coun- 
try has  prospered,  and  this  business  has  increased 
in  equal  or  greater  proportion  to  others.  This  prov- 
ince is  hardly  larger  than  one  of  our  American  coun- 
ties, and  we  do  not  mean  a  Texas  county,  either,  and 
yet  in  the  year  1866,  fifty  thousand  mares  were  bred 
to  jacks,  and  the  yearly  export  of  young  mules 
amounted  to  between  two  and  three  millions  of  dol- 
lars. This  industry  there,  for  profit,  is  without  an 
equal  in  agriculture. 

I  will  add,  that  the  French  were  the  first  in  the 
field  to  establish  a  jack  stock  stud  book,  and  the 
Poitou  are  the  only  breed  having  their  own  distinctive 
stud  book,  in  which  no  other  breed  is  eligible  to  enter. 
It  has  been  established  some  years,  and  the  rules 
governing  entries  are  stricter  than  those  of  our 
American  organization.  Like  ours,  gray  animals  are 
not  eligible.  A  thing  that  is  superior  to  the  Amer- 
ican book  is  this:  No  test  is  made  of  height,  but  a 
complete  committee  examines  each  animal  sought 
to  be  registered ;  this  committee  passes  upon  the  jack 
and  recommends  or  condemns,  upon  his  merit  and 
pedigree  alone.  He  might  be  sixteen  hands  high 
and  yet  reflect  no  credit  upon  the  organization,  not- 
withstanding a  good  pedigree  and  color;  or  he  might 
be  lower  than  the  average  good  jack  and  yet  be  so 
superior  in  weight,  bone,  form  and  style  as  to  place 
him  in  the  first  rank  of  breeding  jacks.  But  to  fol- 
low this  plan  requires  money,  a  thing  with  which  a 


JACKS,   JENNKTS   AND   MUI,KS  IO9 

new  society  is  never  burdened.  This  committee  re- 
gards many  other  things  of  equal  importance  to 
height,  and  pedigree  is  made  to  play  a  much  more 
important  part  than   with  us. 

As  confirmatory  of  what  I  have  said  of  this  breed, 
I  note  the  following  from  A.  B.  Allen,  in  the  New 
York  Tribune,  and  copied  in  the  Farmer's  Home  Jour- 
nal, of  Louisville.  After  speaking  of  other  breeds, 
and  their  introduction  into  this  country,  he  says: 

'The  Poitou  is  the  most  perfectly  formed  of  all 
American  jacks  imported;  not  so  tall  as  the  Majorca, 
but  more  powerful  for  his  inches,  with  greater  weight, 
more  bone  and  superior  muscle.  The  ordinary  stock 
is  held  in  France  at  $1,000  to  $1,500  each,  and  the 
choicer  ones  command  $2,000  to  $3,000.  The  prices 
are  so  high  as  to  almost  forbid  importation.  His 
mules  are  unequaled,  and  sell  on  an  average  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  higher  than  the  get  of 
any  other  jack.  This  makes  it  profitable  to  breed 
from  him,  even  at  the  high  price  he  costs.  The  breed- 
ers of  Poitou  have  a  stud  book  for  the  record  of  their 
stock,  so  there  can  be  no  mistake  as  to  purity.  Their 
mules  which  I  saw  in  Switzerland  were  the  finest 
and  most  powerful  of  any  class  that  has  come  under 
my  observation.  I  was  informed  that  their  French 
dams  were  of  the  Percheron  or  common  farm  stock 
or  their  grades,  which  helped  to  give  to  their  off- 
spring greater  size  and  power,  together  with  superior 
form.  There  are  large  numbers  of  mares  now  in  the 
United  States,  half  and  three-quarter  grades  of  the 
French,  Scotch  and  English  breeds  of  draft  stallions. 
These  mares,  in  size  and  quality,  are  equal  to  the 
French,  and  may  be  bred  to  jacks  with  great  advan-' 


no  BREEDING  AND   REARING   OF 

tage.  Their  mules  would  be  heavy  enough  for  the 
heaviest  farm  and  road  work,  and  some  few  single 
ones  would  be  able  to  pull  alone  in  a  city  dray,  or  a 
pair  of  them  the  heavy  four-wheeled  city  trucks.  I 
am  confident  that  as  soon  as  such  mules  could  be 
placed  in  market  they  would  be  of  quicker  sale,  and 
at  higher  prices  than  horses,  for  they  are  less  liable 
to  disease,  hardier,  longer-lived,  and,  it  is  contended, 
consume  less  food  for  the  work  done.  Our  breeders 
should  not  hesitate  to  go  into  this  business  to  the  full 
extent  of  their  ability,  for  they  could  not  probably 
be  able  to  produce  mules  enough  to  meet  the  demand 
even  at  high  prices  for  fifty  years." 

PERFECTION. 

Perfection  was  foaled  May  2'j,  1891.  He  has  the 
finest  bone,  head  and  ear  of  any  colt  we  known — Roman 
head,  finest  of  style ;  and  took  all  the  premiums  in  her 
class  at  the  many  Middle  Tennessee  fairs,  to  wit :  Mur- 
freesboro,  Columbia,  Lewisburg,  Fayetteville,  and 
Pulaski ;  and  a  number  of  other  fairs  in  Kentucky.  She 
has  never  entered  a  ring  without  a  ribbon.  She  has 
been  exhibited  twenty-five  times  and  took  twenty-five 
blue  ribbons.  She  took  the  premium  at  the  World's 
Fair,  Chicago,  in  1893,  also  at  the  State  Fair,  at  Nash- 
ville, 1893.  Is  in  foal  to  Day  Star  (22).  She  is  pro- 
nounced by  jack  men  to  be  the  best  colt  ever  seen  in 
Middle  Tennessee.  Sired  by  Long  Tom,  fifteen  hands, 
three  inches ;  he  by  Ezell's  Big  Tom,  Jr. ;  he  by  F.  R. 
Rains'  Big  Tom,  Sr. ;  he  by  McGavock  Bossy ;  he  by 
Imp.  Black  Forrest,  Long  Tom's  first  dam  by  F.  R. 
Rains'  Black  Mammoth,  and  she  out  of  an  imported 


JACKS,   JENNETS  AND   MULES  III 

jennet.  Lecona  dam  the  dam  of  Old  Starlight  by 
Ezell's  Big  Tom,  Jr.,  his  dam  Ezell's  Old  Ann.  Per- 
fection's first  dam  is  a  fourteen  hand  jennet,  sired  by 
Free  Dave,  known  as  the  Snell  jack ;  her  dam  by  Dr. 
Knight's  Knight  Errant,  and  her  dam  was  Mammoth. 
Price  $1,250. 

The  above  jennet.  Perfection,  is  owned  by  Messrs. 
I.  W.  and  J.  L.  Jones,  proprietors  of  Daisy  Stock 
Farm,  and  registered  jacks  and  jennets,  Maury 
County,  Tennessee.  Persons  wishing  to  exhibit  stock 
at  the  World's  Fair  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  1903,  can  con- 
fer with  Hon.  J.  L.  Jones,  Sr.,  Columbia,  Tenn.,  who 
is  one  of  the  executive  committee,  and  will  represent 
the  interests  of  the  South  in  jacks,  jennets  and  mules. 


[The  author  regrets  his  inability  to  procure  photo- 
graphs of  the  Andalusian,  Maltese  and  Italian  jacks 
for  this  book.] 


^*o^ 


4Cc 


^ij^ 


^ 


